A Familiar Gripe

Persija are one of the biggest teams in the country without a doubt. They have some of the biggest names in Indonesian football. Their Jakmania supporters club is one of the most active in the country. Their orange shirts are one of the most identifiable in the country. They are, in short, a footballing brand worth a shit load of money.

But they don't have a website and they don't have any merchandising.It's left to fans to disseminate information to the fans, the club seem to think it is beneath them. Also beneath them, if rumours are true, is paying players on time.

Then we have the wonderfully imaginatively named Jakarta who play in the Liga Primer Indonesia, the rebel league in Indonesia. They boast a website with official replica shirts available. Thing is, the one time I saw them play, at home to Cendrawasih Papua, the crowd wasn't much more than 100. Compare that with the 25,000 plus that frequently attend Persija home games.

Of course, we're not comparing like with like here. Persija date back to 1928, Jakarta date back to January 2011. But they're under the same bloody umbrella!

Not for the first time you're left wondering how the league would be if the current Indonesia Super League teams were professionally run. Admittedly the ISL is trying to get them to be more so but it's all pretty half hearted and anyway why bother when the league is run by such incompetents and results are, allegedly, fixed, before a ball is kicked.