It Makes No Sense: Security Checkpoint before Entering the SUGBK where The Officers Prohibit Plastic Bottles

I’m a football fan from Jakarta. For quite sometimes I went to the Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno (SUGBK/Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium) to watch football matches whether if it’s involving Persija or the Indonesian National Team. Everytime I go to SUGBK, I set up a plan in order to enjoy the experience of watching football live at the stadium and the match itself. I’d buy the ticket beforehand, I’d prefer to go there by motorcycle, I’d wear proper jersey, I’d go there early, and occasionally,  I’d be prepared for refreshments.

Just like any other events that involve crowd, watching football in SUGBK also has rules to be obeyed. Among other rules, there’s rule about prohibition to carry dangerous and hazardous material into the stadium. Before entering the stadium, there will be a security checkpoint where police officers check every individual’s carriage including what’s inside their bags and pockets. Usually, there’ll also be a full body check. One is prohibited to bring sharp objects (e.g. knives, scissors, razors, etc.), exploding materials (e.g. firecrackers, flares, etc.), liquors, any kinds of weapon and firearms, etc.

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But hey, there’s another thing that is being prohibited to be brought into the stadium: bottles, plastic bottles, to be precise. They don’t allow plastic bottles inside the stadium because most people tend to throw them into the field by previously filling it with any kinds of liquid (i.e. the remainder of the bottle’s content, water from the toilet, and sometimes, URINE), especially when they’re being pissed by something. Usually done by unsatisfied home crowd, plastic bottle throwing in Indonesian football is very common. I can say that 2 out of 3 matches of Indonesian football are dotted with it. Yep, neither police officers nor players and officials want to be hit by an airborne plastic bottle filled with warm yellow liquid from the tribune. That’s why the officers are prohibiting them also. Sometimes at the checkpoint, they remove the content of the bottle into a small plastic bag before getting rid of the bottle, so that one still can drink inside the stadium.

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But there’s something that makes no sense to me regarding this particular matter. While police officers fetch (almost) every plastic bottle at the checkpoint, inside the tribune, there are many men and (sometimes) women who sell mineral water, in a plastic bottle! So what’s the point of prohibiting it?!

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I’ve asked several police officers at the checkpoint in various matches I attended about this stuff. I asked them politely: “Pak, kenapa di sini semua botol plastik diambil, sementara di dalam ada banyak yang jual minuman botol plastik?” (Sir, why do you take all plastic bottles here, while inside the tribune there are plenty of people selling them?) Their responses are different. Here’s as I remember them:

Officer 1: “Diam aja. Ga usah banyak omong, kamu!” (Shut up. Stop asking questions!). September 6, 2011, Indonesia v Bahrain, checkpoint @ Gate IV

Officer 2: “(Penjual) yang di dalam itu udah dari tadi siang masuk ke tribun, mereka ngumpet-ngumpet, sementara personil kami terbatas” (They (plastic bottled mineral water sellers) have been inside the tribune since noon, they were hiding, and our personnel is limited). July 28, 2011, Indonesia v Turkmenistan, checkpoint @ Gate VII.

Officer 3: “Yaah, ini hanya formalitas aja, mas..” (well, buddy,, it’s just a formality). May 26, 2012, Persija v Persib, checkpoint @ Gate II.

If the officers want to clean the event from bottle-throwing incident, so why don’t they do it thoroughly? By only prohibiting the supporters from bringing plastic bottles into the tribune, it seems like they’re being suspicious to the supporters while letting other suspect of bottle-throwing incident get away. By doing so, they’d only managed to minimize the opportunity of bottle-throwing incident to occur than to omit it completely, and that’s not a good thing. Even if it’s not much, there are victims of bottle-throwing incident because of this ‘policy’.

To all Indonesian football supporters, let’s clear our sacred football fields from plastic bottles. The point of coming to the stadium is to support your beloved team with respect and sportsmanship. Let’s all not throw bottles into the field no more. Let’s enjoy football wisely. Long live Indonesian football, long live Indonesian supporters!

P.S. If you want to bring beverage into the SUGBK tribune, you should buy a carton-packed drink, so the officers at the checkpoint won’t get rid of them. You DON’T want to buy plastic bottled mineral water inside the tribune because it costs more than usual (common retail price is Rp 1.500 – Rp 2.500, in the tribune it costs more than Rp 5.000)