Agency :
From deadly fan beatings to teams being transported to matches in armoured personnel carriers, Indonesia is fast gaining a reputation as Asia’s most violent football nation.
Last weekend 23-year-old Persija Jakarta fan Haringga Sirla was clubbed to death by supporters of arch-rival Persib Bandung.
His murder once again highlighted the Southeast Asian country’s decades-long struggle with hooliganism and led to the suspension of its top-flight Liga 1.
Sirla was the 70th Indonesian football fan to die in match-related violence since 1994, or about three deaths annually, according to figures from football watchdog Save Our Soccer.
His brutal murder, captured in shaky mobile phone footage and posted to Youtube, saw rival supporters using rocks, sticks and planks to beat the young man outside Bandung’s main stadium before a match.
Police said they have detained 16 people in connection with the killing.
It was the latest in a string of violent incidents between fans of the two clubs whose rivalry is so fierce that Persija supporters have previously been urged not to attend matches in Bandung, some 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of the capital.
The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) suspended play indefinitely following Sunday’s incident, vowing a crackdown.
But critics are quick to point out Indonesia has been here before — and little has changed.
“The penalties aren’t enough,” Dex Glenniza, managing editor of website Pandit Football, told AFP. “Teams have not learned from the past.”
While fan violence may not be as deadly as in some Latin American countries including Brazil, where football is akin to a religion, hooliganism has long been a feature of the Indonesian game, observers said.
Die-hard supporters of top teams have become notorious for unsavoury behaviour, with violent chants the norm at matches and hardcore fans blindly clinging to long-standing inter-club feuds.
From deadly fan beatings to teams being transported to matches in armoured personnel carriers, Indonesia is fast gaining a reputation as Asia’s most violent football nation.
Last weekend 23-year-old Persija Jakarta fan Haringga Sirla was clubbed to death by supporters of arch-rival Persib Bandung.
His murder once again highlighted the Southeast Asian country’s decades-long struggle with hooliganism and led to the suspension of its top-flight Liga 1.
Sirla was the 70th Indonesian football fan to die in match-related violence since 1994, or about three deaths annually, according to figures from football watchdog Save Our Soccer.
His brutal murder, captured in shaky mobile phone footage and posted to Youtube, saw rival supporters using rocks, sticks and planks to beat the young man outside Bandung’s main stadium before a match.
Police said they have detained 16 people in connection with the killing.
It was the latest in a string of violent incidents between fans of the two clubs whose rivalry is so fierce that Persija supporters have previously been urged not to attend matches in Bandung, some 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of the capital.
The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) suspended play indefinitely following Sunday’s incident, vowing a crackdown.
But critics are quick to point out Indonesia has been here before — and little has changed.
“The penalties aren’t enough,” Dex Glenniza, managing editor of website Pandit Football, told AFP. “Teams have not learned from the past.”
While fan violence may not be as deadly as in some Latin American countries including Brazil, where football is akin to a religion, hooliganism has long been a feature of the Indonesian game, observers said.
Die-hard supporters of top teams have become notorious for unsavoury behaviour, with violent chants the norm at matches and hardcore fans blindly clinging to long-standing inter-club feuds.
