Monday, August 13, 2007
Troubled terraces
10 days into the second half of the season and the warm glow of the Asian Cup has faded to be replaced by a barrage of bottles and rocks as Indonesian football reverts to type. I won't list them all but there have been incidents of crowd misbehaviour at:
PJ Purwakarta v Persija
PSMS v Persik
Persita v Persija
Persijap v PSIM Yogyakarta
PSIM v Persiwa Wamena
+++
Much of the trouble involves the throwing of missiles, be it rocks, wood or bottles. OK, people know what is likely to be thrown. Tidy the place up! Many grounds are tips in streets surrounded by tips. Garbage is everywhere. Of course garbage isn't just the ecxclusive problem of football, rather a society that accepts having trash everywhere or at least passively accepts it.
Who ultimately is responsible for crowd misbehaviour in and around a stadium? Each game has hundreds of security personnel but they seem impotent to act beyond doing some hooking and a whacking of their own. As far as I'm aware no one gets charged with anything - it's just too much paper work. It's left to Supporters' Club officials to act as peacemakers and soothe frayed tempers but these guys are fans. They have no legal capacity and at the most they can suspend an offender's membership. But the lack of an ID card is never a problem here.
There is communication between most of the fan clubs and most of the fan clubs speak with one voice. They abhor the violence that is attached to the game. Some clubs have developed good relationships while other, because of history or lacation, are never going to get along. But at least in Scotland it is possible to go and see Celtic play Rangers and avoid trouble. Go to Tangerang with a Persija shirt and trouble will find you. Each year there is a fans jamboree which brings together the fan clubs. This years' was held, in a master stroke of planning, slap bang in the middle of the Asian Cup. The trouble with trouble is it is often caused by people who aren't members of any official groups.
What needs to happen is a concerted effort from the FA, the police and the clubs to take serious action before one day someone gets killed in a big city. There have been a few deaths in Papua but that is very far away from Jakarta or Bandung so have little impact on the national psyche. Sunday's game between Persija and PSS showed what can happen when club officials get together and organise things. Little, though, can be done when 5,000 fans turn up unexpected and won't go away quietly because they don't have tickets and clubs need to get more involved to stop this type of nonsense.
There is no firm and fast cure to the ailments on the terraces for football mirrors the society where it is played. In Singapore fans travel on organised buses, sit in organised parts of the ground and sing organised songs in organised stadiums that are neat and tidy and lack any form of security. In Indonesia the stadiums are messy, unorganised and are packed to the rafters with security bods enjoying one of their few perks. Free football with the promise of skullbashing always there.
On Thursday Persib Bandung travel to Lebuk Bulus to take on bitter foes Persija Jakarta. Bandung hate Jakarta with a passion and any Viking who makes the journey later this week wearing club colours will wish they had some decent health insurance. The Jakmania didn't travel to Siliwangi earlier in the season, just a few hardy souls who left their colours behind and their Jakartan registered cars in safe car parks far from the stadium. Last year any fans who made the journey were prevented from entering the stadium. Is this how Indonesia wants their football to be?
PJ Purwakarta v Persija
PSMS v Persik
Persita v Persija
Persijap v PSIM Yogyakarta
PSIM v Persiwa Wamena
+++
Much of the trouble involves the throwing of missiles, be it rocks, wood or bottles. OK, people know what is likely to be thrown. Tidy the place up! Many grounds are tips in streets surrounded by tips. Garbage is everywhere. Of course garbage isn't just the ecxclusive problem of football, rather a society that accepts having trash everywhere or at least passively accepts it.
Who ultimately is responsible for crowd misbehaviour in and around a stadium? Each game has hundreds of security personnel but they seem impotent to act beyond doing some hooking and a whacking of their own. As far as I'm aware no one gets charged with anything - it's just too much paper work. It's left to Supporters' Club officials to act as peacemakers and soothe frayed tempers but these guys are fans. They have no legal capacity and at the most they can suspend an offender's membership. But the lack of an ID card is never a problem here.
There is communication between most of the fan clubs and most of the fan clubs speak with one voice. They abhor the violence that is attached to the game. Some clubs have developed good relationships while other, because of history or lacation, are never going to get along. But at least in Scotland it is possible to go and see Celtic play Rangers and avoid trouble. Go to Tangerang with a Persija shirt and trouble will find you. Each year there is a fans jamboree which brings together the fan clubs. This years' was held, in a master stroke of planning, slap bang in the middle of the Asian Cup. The trouble with trouble is it is often caused by people who aren't members of any official groups.
What needs to happen is a concerted effort from the FA, the police and the clubs to take serious action before one day someone gets killed in a big city. There have been a few deaths in Papua but that is very far away from Jakarta or Bandung so have little impact on the national psyche. Sunday's game between Persija and PSS showed what can happen when club officials get together and organise things. Little, though, can be done when 5,000 fans turn up unexpected and won't go away quietly because they don't have tickets and clubs need to get more involved to stop this type of nonsense.
There is no firm and fast cure to the ailments on the terraces for football mirrors the society where it is played. In Singapore fans travel on organised buses, sit in organised parts of the ground and sing organised songs in organised stadiums that are neat and tidy and lack any form of security. In Indonesia the stadiums are messy, unorganised and are packed to the rafters with security bods enjoying one of their few perks. Free football with the promise of skullbashing always there.
On Thursday Persib Bandung travel to Lebuk Bulus to take on bitter foes Persija Jakarta. Bandung hate Jakarta with a passion and any Viking who makes the journey later this week wearing club colours will wish they had some decent health insurance. The Jakmania didn't travel to Siliwangi earlier in the season, just a few hardy souls who left their colours behind and their Jakartan registered cars in safe car parks far from the stadium. Last year any fans who made the journey were prevented from entering the stadium. Is this how Indonesia wants their football to be?
Labels: Football Hooliganism Indonesia
# posted by Me @ 5:10 PM 
