Agnes Winarti , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 07/18/2009 1:49 PM | Headlines
Indonesian fans of English Premier League champions Manchester United expressed mixed feelings of grief and disappointment following the cancellation of the match between the club and an Indonesian team after bomb blasts ripped through two hotels in South Jakarta.
"It would had been one of a kind match, how disappointing. However, I am more concerned with the casualties of the bombings," Red Devils enthusiast Edo Adiatra told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The bombs exploded Friday morning at the JW Marriott Hotel and Ritz Carlton Hotel - where the United players were due to stay prior to their match Monday against the Indonesian All-Stars.
Edo, who bought a Rp 200,000 (US$20) ticket, said that a staff member of online ticket agency Rajakarcis.com had informed him a refund was likely.
"The staff told me to give them my bank account number to reclaim my money. But it's not clear yet when I will get it back," he said.
Evan Romeo of the Garuda Supporter Community, a group of soccer enthusiasts, said he was expecting a refund.
He had booked 154 tickets, worth around Rp 10 million, for his friends coming from Makassar, South Sulawesi and Surakarta, Central Java. "I want some clarity on the refund procedure," said Evan, who established the 5,000-member community in 2007.
United, which had made it as far as Kuala Lumpur for its East Asia tour, announced the cancellation Friday afternoon.
"We have a huge fan base in the region and I have been travelling to Asia for 21 years with this club and always admired the support we have in the Far East," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said, as quoted by Reuters.
"For the first time, we have had to cancel a match and that's very frustrating, but maybe we can play the game another time."
Chairman of the Indonesian Local Committee (LOC), Agum Gumelar, was furious. "Whoever did this bombings are cowards. Note that!"
He promised the LOC would issue refunds for the tickets, which ranged in price from Rp 100,000 to Rp 3.5 million.
"Give us some time to think about the mechanism for the refund," he said.
All 77,688 printed tickets had sold out, he added.
Managing director of the exclusive Man United Asia Tour Pro Event, John Merritt, told the press that, "they *the players* are devastated, honestly. It was the highlight of the tour as they were going to stay here longer than any other location."
United said in a statement on its website that the club's chief executive David Gill had hinted the scheduled match in Jakarta would be relocated to Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking in Malaysia, Gill said: "We could bring the Indonesian team here. It's a possibility and something we're looking at. We'll go through all the different possibilities and evaluate which is the most appropriate.
"In all probability *the United tour* will stay here *in Kuala Lumpur*. But there are lots of things to be done before we sort out the logistics for the rest of the week," the statement said.
The offer was however turned down by Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Nurdin Halid.
"We turned down the offer because the match was not supposed to be just a match. It was to satisfy soccer fans here in Indonesia and improve our image in the world."
Nurdin said the organizers would suffer an estimated Rp 40 billion to Rp 50 billion in financial losses because of the cancellation. "Rp 20 billion was the United's appearance fee and the rest was for accommodation and the cost of staging the match," he added.
Another United fan, Agustinus Nino Istiantoro, who spent Rp 1.5 million for two tickets, said he would not to fly to Kuala Lumpur to watch the match.
"I watched a match at the Old Trafford in 1995. But I don't want to watch United playing in Malaysia."
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