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14 soccer fans die falling from rooftops this year
Fourteen members of the Jakmania soccer fan club have died this year falling from buses or from soccer matches, a club representative says
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ourteen members of the Jakmania soccer fan club have died this year falling from buses or from soccer matches, a club representative says.
The number of such accidents has skyrocketed from only five incidents in 2009.
The rising trend is most likely due to the reckless behavior of fans on their way to soccer games, Jakmania managing director M. Lariko Rangga Mone or Riko told The Jakarta Post recently.
Jakmania is the die-hard fan association that supports local soccer club Persija.
They are infamous for their fanatical support and antisocial behavior, and are often responsible for vandalism, brawls and traffic incidents.
Some fans travel to and from matches on the roofs of buses.
The supporters, dressed in their signature orange garb, cheer, yell, play music instruments, and sometime dance on the buses’ roofs without regard to their own safety.
Most of the cases involving supporters being killed happen when they lose balance and fall from the top of the buses.
“There was a guy, who tried to wave a heavy flagpole on top of a bus. He could not lift it, lost his balance and fell, just as a huge container truck passed by,” Riko said.
Reckless fans also often get caught in low-hanging electrical cables, Riko adds.
However, Riko was quick to add, these fans were not part of the Jakmania membership, claiming the official members were strictly regulated and not allowed to sit atop buses.
“Jakmania is surely orange, but not all orange is Jakmania,” he said.
The association is concerned about the unregistered supporters, as their antics tarnish the fan club’s image, Riko said.
Riko estimates there are up to 20,000 unregistered supporters following Persija, almost half of the official Jakmania fan base of 45,000.
Riko said Jakmania members often visit the families of victims not only to give their condolences, but also to raise awareness on the importance of self preservation among supporters.
Because of these visits, the association knows exactly how many unregistered supporters have died due to recklessness.
Meanwhile, the number on soccer fans hurt in soccer-related brawls in the city is unrecorded because cases are too scattered.
The number of soccer fan victims of falls from the buses is expected to continue to rise this year, with the police seemingly powerless to discipline the supporters.
Most of the cases involving supporters being killed happen when they lose balance and fall from the top of the buses.
