If you’re not into the Indonesian soccer scene (we don’t blame you), then you probably don’t know that the final of the President’s Cup is taking place this weekend.
Jakarta’s own soccer team, Persija, did not make it to the final. The two contestants are Bandung’s Persib and Palembang’s Sriwijaya FC. Unfortunately for us Jakartans, the two have to play in neutral territory, and the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) stadium in Senayan is the most obvious choice in terms of grandeur and capacity.
Why is this a bad idea?
The main reason is that the Jakmania, Persija’s vocal supporters, absolutely detest their Persib counterparts, the Bobotoh (and vice versa). Persib winning a tournament in Persija’s home stadium is undoubtedly a slap in the face for many Jakmanias.
This is all the more worrying considering the history of violent acts of hooliganism between the two sets of supporters in the past. This video, from May 2014, shows just how violent the two sets of hooligans can get when the two teams face off:
To prevent similar scenes from happening this weekend, the police are deploying more than 9,000 personnel to guard the stadium as well as toll roads connecting Jakarta and Bandung.
You may also want to avoid Senayan hours before and after the final, which is taking place on Sunday at 7pm. The police are anticipating heavy traffic around Senayan then, but are expecting nearby Blok M and Sudirman areas to be relatively traffic-free.
But we think it’s probably wise to just stay indoors on Sunday evening. After all, the video above shows that Indonesian hooligans may be armed with sharp weapons and they have been known to attack innocent bystanders in the past.
We don’t really care who wins the President’s Cup. We just hope no one gets hurt, whatever the outcome.
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