TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Hooliganism still haunts Indonesian soccer
Change Size
This picture taken on Oct. 1, 2022 shows security personnel on the pitch at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java.
(AFP/STR)
V
andalism and clashes by soccer fans over the past few days have once again put the issue of hooliganism at the forefront of Indonesian soccer, despite it being under the international spotlight following the deadly stadium stampede in October and ahead of hosting the youth world cup in May.
Following a top-flight Liga 1 match between home team Persita Tangerang and East Java’s Persis Solo on Saturday, footage emerged on social media of a group of Persita supporters throwing rocks at the visiting team bus, as it made its way onto the Panunggangan toll gate, in Tangerang, Banten.
Persis’ official statement said that the attack broke the bus windshield and a club official also suffered minor injuries.
The assault gained national attention after Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming, son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and a brother of Kaesang Pangarep, who owns a majority stake in Persis, called out National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Twitter.
“Incidents like throwing [stones] against a [team] bus will keep on happening. This has been the result of the lack of firm action taken against [those who] incited riots at Kanjuruhan Stadium,” Gibran said, referring to the deadly stampede in Malang, East Java on Oct.1, 2022.
But, other footage also emerged on social media, showing some Persis club officials and players disembarking from the bus to chase after and assault the Persita supporters who threw the rocks.
“Please investigate if our players did anything wrong. If so, I apologize. We need to be fair. Whether it's a problem or not, let the police chief and his staff decide,” Gibran said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.id.
