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span class="inline inline-left">Security check: In this file photo, police officers search members of the Persija soccer club’s fan group, known as Jakmania, which has a reputation for committing acts of hooliganism on the streets of Jakarta. JP/R. Berto WedhatamaNotorious among Jakartans for inciting chaos and traffic jams in the capital, Jakmania, the supporters of the Jakarta-based soccer club Persija, are currently looking to repair their image.

Soccer brawls can be expected every time Persija hosts the Surabaya-based Persebaya or the Bandung-based Persib, the two clubs that are known as Persija’s fierce rivals.

The two clubs have their own supporter bases, known as Bonek (Persebaya) and Viking (Persib), who are known for their bitter relationships with Jakmania.

“It’s not that we do not want to make peace with Viking or Bonek,” said Albert Solisa, one of the coordinators for Jakmania. “We have tried our best. Once we sent people to Bandung before [a Persib–Persija] match to meet with Viking representatives so that they could ensure the safety of our supporters prior, during and after the match.”

“The meeting’s result, however, turned out to be empty promises.”

Until now, it had been impossible for Jakmania to watch their team play at Bandung or Surabaya, Albert said, referring to various clashes between Jakmania, Viking and Bonek that had occurred since the early 2000s. The bitter relationship between the fans even impinges on players, with Persija’s Ismed Sofjan being assaulted during training at Siliwangi Stadium, Bandung, in 2005, allegedly by a Persib fan.

Despite its reputation for being the ringleader of brawls that frequently occur after Persija’s matches, Jakmania was working hard to improve its image, said the supporter base’s secretary-general Richard Achmad Supriyanto.

“We take this matter [soccer brawls] seriously,” Richard told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview. “We mete out punishments to members of Jakmania who are proven to have incited chaos or destroyed public facilities.”

Richard also pointed out to the fact that Jakmania now already had an “improved attitude” toward the non-native Jakartans who came to the capital to support the Indonesian national team.

Jakmania members, for example, supported Indonesia side-by-side with Viking members during this year’s Asia Football Federation (AFF) Cup at Gelora Bung Karno stadium, Jakarta. Inside the stadium, Jakmania did not mind when the Bandung-based fans wore Persib’s merchandise and unfurled its banner.

Jakmania currently has more than 40,000 registered members scattered throughout 54 regional branches located in Jakarta, according to Richard. However, if Jakmania’s unofficial supporters — those who support Persija but do not possess a “Persija supporters card” officially distributed by Jakmania — are put into the calculation, its members could reach more than 100,000 Jakartans.

Even though they are not very big in numbers compared to the city population of 9 million, Jakmania are considered important to some gubernatorial hopefuls in the upcoming Jakarta election in July 11 as their endorsement is seen as a “doorway” to garner votes from young, working-class Jakartans.

South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin, for example, made a move to win support from the Jakmania, promising them that he would pledge a portion of the 2013 city budget to build a soccer stadium for Persija, if he won the election.

Currently, the Jakarta provincial administration is pondering bulldozing Lebak Bulus soccer stadium, which is Persija’s home ground, to make way for a mass rapid transit (MRT) station.

Richard argued that supporters of Persija might back Alex or Surakarta Mayor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo because Jakmania knew that the two gubernatorial hopefuls paid a lot of attention to the development of the Surakarta-based Persis Solo and the Palembang-based Sriwijaya FC, which are the soccer clubs in their respective hometowns.

The secretary-general of Jakmania deemed the current Governor Fauzi Bowo was not too interested in soccer-related issues, especially when compared to his predecessor Sutiyoso. “We could only hope that the next elected governor of Jakarta pay attention to the capital’s soccer development,” said Richard. (sat)