Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Bonek are coming!
Lock up your daughters, board your windows residents of Jakarta, Indonesia's most infamous football fans the Bonek of Persebaya are about to hit the capital city for this afternoon's game with Persitara at the Soemanti Brojonegoro Stadium in Central Jakarta.
Hundreds of security personnel will be on duty at the stadium as officials hope the first high risk game goes off peacefully.
Much depends on how many Persebaya fans make the journey east to west across the breadth of Java and it seems no one seems to know.
If I was Persebaya I would have had someone monitoring the trains leaving city for the last 24 hours and likewise here in Jakarta. This is the first time since 2005, I stand to be corrected though, that Persebaya have played in the capital city and the last thing anyone wants is mass brawls on the streets of Jakarta being played out by every TV channel tonight.
Persitara's new stadium holds 7,000 and officials hope to segregate any visiting fans but access does not lend itself to easy flows of crowds.
Wistfully they are limiting the away support to 350 but if more turn up what then would they do?
I understand the Jakarta derby, Persitara against Persija will be played at another stadium, Bung Karno (?), while games against Persib and Arema also carry high potential for risk as they are likely to be followed by a large number of travelling fans.
Here's hoping tomorrow's headlines are about the football and not the fans.
NOTE - I sound so woosey writing this, assuming all Persebaya fans are hooligans. They are not of course and I should make that plain.
Hundreds of security personnel will be on duty at the stadium as officials hope the first high risk game goes off peacefully.
Much depends on how many Persebaya fans make the journey east to west across the breadth of Java and it seems no one seems to know.
If I was Persebaya I would have had someone monitoring the trains leaving city for the last 24 hours and likewise here in Jakarta. This is the first time since 2005, I stand to be corrected though, that Persebaya have played in the capital city and the last thing anyone wants is mass brawls on the streets of Jakarta being played out by every TV channel tonight.
Persitara's new stadium holds 7,000 and officials hope to segregate any visiting fans but access does not lend itself to easy flows of crowds.
Wistfully they are limiting the away support to 350 but if more turn up what then would they do?
I understand the Jakarta derby, Persitara against Persija will be played at another stadium, Bung Karno (?), while games against Persib and Arema also carry high potential for risk as they are likely to be followed by a large number of travelling fans.
Here's hoping tomorrow's headlines are about the football and not the fans.
NOTE - I sound so woosey writing this, assuming all Persebaya fans are hooligans. They are not of course and I should make that plain.
# posted by Me @ 11:07 AM 
