Police vow to preserve order at Copa finals

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 09/16/2006 9:02 AM

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

East Java Police say they are prepared to use rubber bullets if fans get out of hand during Saturday's final of soccer's 2006 Copa Dji Sam Soe Indonesia at Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo.

East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Herman Soerjadi Soemawireja said Friday rubber bullets would only be used if fans became violent. He said police wanted to prevent a repeat of an incident on Sept. 4 when Arema and Persebaya supporters became involved in a brawl that left 12 people injured and caused Rp 2 billion (US$219,780) in damages.

""Ideally, the ratio between police officers and fans would be 1:10. If the number of fans is excessive, police will use water hoses and fire rubber bullets to disperse them,"" he said.

The championship game between Arema of Malang and Persipura of Jayapura will begin at 6:30 p.m. That game will be preceded by the third-place match between Persija of Jakarta and PSMS Medan.

Organizers have prepared 30,000 tickets, with a third set aside for Arema fans. Persipura fans will get 1,000 tickets, while 500 tickets have been set aside for both Persija and PSMS.

Some 5,000 seats in the stadium will be left empty to contain any spillover of fans. Organizers will attempt to keep supporters separated to avoid clashes. They also plan to set up three giant screens outside the stadium for fans without tickets.

Police will ban convoys of fans from riding around the city in the backs of trucks.

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