Persiraja Banda Aceh’s awful start to the season continues after the Laskar Tanah Rencong were slapped with a 3-0 forfeit loss after their failure to hold their opening Liga 2 Indonesia match against PSMS Medan. The lights at the H. Dimurthala Stadium went off only six minutes before kick-off due to a failure in the stadium’s generators, which led to the match being postponed before eventually being cancelled, triggering a riot that saw some of the stadium’s infrastructure being burned down by angry supporters.
Monday’s fiasco represents the newest chapter in a tumultuous few months for newly-relegated Persiraja, who underwent a severe financial crisis after leaving the Liga 1. Previous owner Nazaruddin Dek Gam was unable to further fund Persiraja due to him focusing his financial efforts on his other businesses, leading to a protracted search for a new owner that threatened Persiraja’s participation in the 2022/23 Liga 2 season.
As there were not many parties interested in taking over Persiraja as well as stalemates experienced in talks with those interested, Persiraja were left unable to register themselves into the Liga 2, only being able to enroll themselves into the league thanks to a transitional team formed by the Banda Aceh city government.
Weeks before Persiraja were set to play regional rivals PSMS in their season opener, the Laskar Tanah Rencong finally got themselves a new owner in the form of Islamic preacher/businessman Zulfikar SBY. Zulfikar hastily assembled a squad for the 2022/23 campaign, consisting of local players who had represented clubs in the Liga 3 Aceh last season as well as a number of senior figures. Only one player was retained from Persiraja’s 2021/22 Liga 1 campaign, captain Mukhlis Nakata.
Zulfikar also changed the team’s image, replacing the age-long Lantak Laju motto with Berjaya dan Bermartabat, or “successful and dignified” in Indonesian. Zulfikar also made the players wear leggings during matches in accordance to Islamic law, as well as ensuring that the players would observe rules established within the Holy Quran, such as performing their prayers on time as well as taking good care of their off-field behavior.
The stage was set for Persiraja’s season opener, with thousands of fans flocking to the H. Dimurthala Stadium to see the Laskar Tanah Rencong taking on PSMS. Players from both teams warmed up on the pitch underneath the floodlights, only for said floodlights to fail only six minutes before kick-off, plunging the entire stadium into darkness.
Confusion soon turn into chaos as the hours went on without any resolution, with angry supporters burning down parts of the stadium such as the advertising boards, the goal netting, and the substitutes’ bench. Both PSMS and Persiraja players were escorted out of the stadium as the rioting raged on within the venue. As the lights had failed to turn on again after several attempts, the decision was made to call-off the match, which understandably did not go down well with the fans. It was reported that the costs of tickets for the Persiraja-PSMS match was considerably more expensive than those charged by other Liga 2 teams, which led to the supporters” wrath upon hearing that the match would be cancelled.
An investigation done by league operators PT Liga Indonesia Baru (PT LIB) found out that the generators powering the H. Dimurthala Stadium had failed due to a lack of fuel powering them. A police investigation is also underway to see whether the generators’ failure was down to negligence or sabotage, as well as to charge those burning the stadium’s facility for destruction of public property.
For their failure of holding their match against PSMS, Persiraja were punished with a 3-0 forfeit loss, which placed them in the lower reaches of their group’s table. To make up for the fiasco, the Persiraja management has publically apologized to the fans as well as allowing fans to attend their next home match against PSKC Cimahi on September 10th free of charge.