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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| Like a boss! |
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)
