Jakarta Is Prone To COVID-19, Persija Fled To Bantul

Illustration of Persija Jakarta training (Photo: Persija)

JAKARTA - The League 1 competition will begin in October. All matches will be focused on Java Island. The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) has asked clubs outside Java to choose their new home.

However, there are also clubs in Java who choose to move. Call it Persija Jakarta. The Kemayoran Tiger Club chose not to live in Jakarta when the League 1 competition resumed. The reason is the COVID-19 pandemic.

Persija management considers it risky to hold a match in Jakarta. This is because positive cases of COVID-19 in the Capital City are still high. Holding a match in Jakarta with the unstable COVID-19 condition is a very heavy burden for the Kemayoran Tigers.

"Moreover, the competition is fairly short, only lasting less than 6 months, with 32 matches left," said the Sports Director of Persija, Ferry Paulus.

For this reason, Persija chose Bantul as the home for the 2020 League 1 continuation. This decision was taken with careful consideration from various aspects. Bantul was chosen because it has a good quality stadium, namely the Sultan Agung Bantul Stadium.

In addition, there are quite a lot of training field facilities around Bantul that can be used.

"We are sure we can navigate the competition with positive results," said Ferry.

Ferry revealed that the Kemayoran Tigers are likely to resume training in August. However, this is still being reviewed by the management and coaching team. Technical requirements such as training camps and trial matches are also under discussion.

"We are also still discussing whether to directly practice in Yogyakarta or in Jakarta first," said Ferry.