Jakarta Casual

It could be argued that Persipura missed out on last season’s Indonesia Super League because their near impregnable home stadium of Mandala Stadium in Jayapura was undergoing renovations so that it would meet Asian Football Confederation criteria for hosting Asian club football.

Their opening home games were played in Makassar, vital points were dropped and they missed out on a second consecutive title. They played their AFC Champions League home games at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta and failed to make a credible impression on Asia’s elite.

When they could finally use their own stadium they rediscovered their form and went through the second half of the season unbeaten finishing second and that was good enough to see them enter the AFC Cup where they have been drawn with South China (Hong Kong), Chonburi (Thailand), and East Bengal from India. If ever a group could be called the group of death it’s this one.

But while their rivals can rely on passionate home support, and apparently East Bengal crowds in Kolkota are on a par with Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, Persipura look like they will have to play their home games in Jakarta again. At least that is what the AFC Cup 2011 schedule says.

If that is the case then that will be a massive kick in the teeth for the Black Pearls after having put all that work in to upgrading their stadium.

I said at the time that it would be most odd if the AFC did allow Persipura to play in Jayapura, stadium or not. It takes about seven hours flying tome to reach the capital city of Papua from Jakarta. The nearest international airport would probably be Makassar in South Sulawesi which is still about four hours west.

Whichever way you look at it it’s a daunting journey for teams coming from outside Indonesia. God knows it’s bad enough for those inside! But then East Bengal away won’t be a picnic either.

# posted by Me @ 4:23 PM