A Cameroonian legend living in Jakarta reminisces about the African Cup of Nations in this post while in another what are the chances of any ASEAN nation hosting the World Cup when they don't sell beer in the stadiums? Apart from Thailand!

This weekend Persija IPL will host Bontang in Solo. Next week Persija ISL will play two home games either in Solo or Sidoarjo. Neither club it seems can get a game in Jakarta.
Persija ISL are being forced away from their home town because the grass at the Bung Karno is being relaid, apparently, and the other options available, Lebak Bulus or Soemantri Brojonegoro are not real options; Lebak Bulus is supposed to being demolished some time soon while the other one is even smaller.

DPM Teo Chee Hean (fifth from left at back row) graced the fixture draw in MBS (Picture credit: FAS)

I'm not mean to dampen the mood of everyone here, but I guess many of you out there must be disappointed by this time of the day when we are only made known of the opening round instead of the FULL fixture list of this season S.

Nope, not ignoring it. Just not had the time recently to add tables etc. Persema are bottom of the 12 team league with just one point but yet to play a home game.
Tomorrow sees Persibo host Persiba Bantul, Persema v Bontang and Persiraja v Arema while on Sunday Persija host Persebaya...somewhere other than Jakarta!

Nope, not ignoring it. Just not had the time recently to add tables etc. Persema are bottom of the 12 team league with just one point but yet to play a home game.
Tomorrow sees Persibo host Persiba Bantul, Persema v Bontang and Persiraja v Arema while on Sunday Persija host Persebaya...somewhere other than Jakarta!

The old adage is that everything has been done before, there ain't nothing new under the sun. I always believed that myself. That was until i started covering Indonesian football; now I expect the new or outrageous and I must admit I am disappointed when something normal happens.
You will be aware, no doubt, that Indonesia has two leagues up and running for the second consecutive season.

Time now for the 3rd annual Jakarta Casual Awards. A little late this time so if your hols have been ruined by their non appearance you have my sincerest apologies.
It's been another mental year with mental goings on. One thing is for sure. The people who run football in this part of the world do not do it for football.

Mais um jogo das eliminatórias da Copa do Mundo de 2014, foi realizado no dia 06/09/2011, na cidade de Jakarta-INA, onde jogaram as seleções da Indonesia (131º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção do Bahrain (101º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Copa da Ásia
2007Jakarta 10/07/2007 IDN2:1 (1:1)BHR First stage2004Jinan 25/07/2004 BHR3:1 (1:0)IDN First stage
Eliminatórias Continentais
1988Jakarta 19/06/1988 IDN0:0BHR Preliminary round
Amistosos
1982Seoul 09/06/1982 IDN1:1BHR First stage1980Seoul 27/08/1980 IDN3:2BHR
O árbitro desse jogo, foi: Lee Min Hu-KOR
O primeiro gol do jogo, foi de Sayed Dhiya Shubbar, aos 46 minutos do primeiro tempo.

With the Indonesian Football Association struggling for credibility at home the news that PSV Eindhoven have cancelled their proposed dates in Jakarta won't be the best christmas present they'll ever receive.
With Indonesia only able to call on players from the Indonesia Premier League the promoters pulled the plug citing concerns the hosts won't be able to put up a credible team to face the Dutch visitors.

Division One action yesterday, once I finally found the bloody stadium. The game had been moved to Ramkamheng because of the flooding that had effected Air Force's usual stadium but was the stadium easy to find? Was it bollocks. Every bugger I asked either knew nothing about it or pointed me unhelpfully to Rajamangala which is nearby.

Indonesia Super League
Deltras v Pelita Jaya 2-0 (Sean Rooney 2) 9,560
1 - Persisam 4 3 0 1 7-3 92 - Sriwijaya 4 3 0 1 7-4 93 - Persib 4 2 2 0 6-4 8
Rooney gets his first goals in Indonesia against a Pelita Jaya team that saw John Tarkpor make his debut. Catch my interview with Rooney on Jakarta Casual TV.

After much humming and haaing Jakarta FC, who like everyone to call them Persija, in the Indonesia Premier League, will play their first home game of the season in the Wilis Stadium in Madiun, East Java. Which is bloody miles away from Jakarta, their supposed home town. Apparently their was no stadium available for them to use.

My latest piece in the Jakarta Globe looks at the IPL v ISL fiasco while pictures from Persija v Persidafon can be found on Asian Football Pictures.

A Persiram home game should be one the most eagerly awaited on the football calender. They hail from Raja Ampat, pristine islands off the coast of Papua far, far to the east of Java's urban and industrial sprawl.
The team however won't be playing their home games within yards of azure waters lapping white sands.

Those who may have been caught off guard for the last several months, Indonesia boasts two leagues. One is official, one isn't. There are also two Persijas. One is official but they don't play in the official league while the other is just Jakarta FC trying to piggy back on name and brand recognition and failing to do so.

As I write this Sarawak will be making their final approach to Bandung ahead of a 10 day training camp. Unless of course the flight was delayed which is more than likely. Anyway Sarawak are coached by Robert Alberts who guided Arema to the Indonesia Super League title back in 2009/2010.
They have a couple of friendlies lined up.

Will the lessons of the deaths at the SEA Games Final be learnt? Check out my Jakarta Globe Column

In the normal scheme of things there would be three Indonesian teams preparing for intercontinental competition; Persipura as ISL champions, Semen Padang as runners up and Persija for finishing third in the absence of any Indonesia Cup last season.
The AFC will only recognise the PSSI as the body qualified to run football in the country.

BUKIT JALIL: Barely four days after the country celebrated a scintillating victory in the final of the Sea Games football final in Jakarta, the Tigers suffered a reality check.

Last night at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, the message was chilling, and yet loud and clear — that though the Sea Games gold signaled a triumph, Malaysian are still minnows when they step out of the boundaries of Southeast Asia.

On the day Home United travel to Tampines Stadium to battle it out for the SLeague title I can reveal plans for widespread football hooliganism that could bring chaos to public transport and even see houses prices fall. A Singaporean double whammy.

While thousands of Home United fans are expected to make the journey east by bus and MRT hard core Tampines hooligans are planning to give them a hot reception at various points in their journey.

Reports in Indonesia today suggest that Kelantan and Malaysia goalkeeper Khairul Fahmie is a target for Persib Bandung. Fahmie, who has impressed many with his performances for the national team on the way to winning the AFF Cup last year and the SEA Games earlier this week.

However his coach at Kelantan, Englishman Peter Butler, has said that Fahmie is going nowhere.

By Chris Wright

Soooo...this guy showed up to cheer on Indonesia in their SEA (Southeast Asian) Games semi-final against Vietnam in Jakarta a couple of days ago and he bought what appears to be his talcum powder with him though surely chafing isn't going to be a problem when you turn up to a match in nothing but a slathering of red body paint and your pyjama bottoms?

The 2011 Malaysian season kicked off back in January and for the members of the victorious Under 23 team that won the SEA Games on penalties in Jakarta last night they must wait a bit longer for their season to end.
They flew back to KL today after their 120 minute and penalty slog against Indonesia and tomorrow night they play Syria at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in KL in the Olympics Qualifiers.

Not many of us will have experienced anything like it. There are 100,000 people in the stadium urging you on while tens of millions round the country will have their fists clenched on the edge of their seats in homes and warungs. Despite everyone being behind you it must be the loneliest walks ever.

The Southeast Asian Games are more of a local flavor, unlikely to get any sort of global pub unless something big happens. Well, it happened, and under tragic circumstances, as fans unable to get tickets for the final in Jakarta between the hosts and Malaysia burned down two ticket booths, while the pregame resulted in a stampede of those attempting to get in (possibly without tickets?

Malaysia limped past Myanmar 1-0, Indonesia huffed and puffed before defeating Vietnam 2-0 (Patrick Wanggai, Titus Bonai) so the SEA Games Final in Jakarta tomorrow night is a rerun of last year's AFF Cup Final between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Expect another sell out crowd at the Bung Karno as the ticket prices and rain are doing nothing to dampen Indonesian's enthusiasm for, finally, following a winning team.

VVIP - 1,000,000 IDR (approx $110)VIP West - 700,000 IDRVIP East - 500,000 IDRCategory 1 - 300,000 IDRCategory 2 - 200,000 IDRCategory 3 - 100,000 IDR
Nope, these prices aren't to go and see Brazil play Spain. It's for the SEA Games UNDER 23s in Jakarta. The first game is Malaysia v Myanmar followed by Indonesia v Vietnam tomorrow night at the Bung Karno and the Final, expect similar prices, is on Monday.

Timor Leste surprised everyone at the SEA Games by winning their opening games against Laos and Philippines.
Now they need to ensure their locally based players, deprived of a league, get the chance to play competitive football on a regular basis.
And that is the main idea behind my latest column in the Jakarta Globe!

Scree-grab from the livestreamingWhen asked after the loss to the Jordanians earlier in their first meeting of the qualifiers if we still stand a chance of making to the next round, assistant coach V Sundramoorthy said there's still "mathematical" chance of doing so if we could take "maximum points out of the remaining matches".

Hot on the heels of Bayern Munchen, Borussia Dortmund, Uruguay and some aging AC Milan buggers comes news that PSV Eindhoven will be coming to Jakarta in January for a couple of friendlies in January.
However knowing how football operates here what's the betting something changes. Like team or the month or the country.

Two contrasting emotions depicted in the picture snapped off the television after the game with a grim-looking Cambodian's Korean coach Lee Tae-Hoon (top half of the picture) pondering what could have gone wrong after two straight defeats in Jakarta.
While his counterpart Sloban Pavkovic (below half) breathe a sight of relieve having see the Cubs came back from a goal deficit to beat the Khmers 2-1 in the near-empty Senayan with headers from Khairul Nizam and Nigel Vanu.

Australian midfielder Robbie Gaspar has signed for Persib Bandung. The Aussie is a bit of an elder statesman among the foreign footballer community in Indonesia having spent several years in the country.
His career began with Persita before heading to a lengthy spell with Persiba and last season with Persema.

Australian midfielder Robbie Gaspar has signed for Persib Bandung. The Aussie is a bit of an elder statesman among the foreign footballer community in Indonesia having spent several years in the country.
His career began with Persita before heading to a lengthy spell with Persiba and last season with Persema.

Remember the Indonesia Premier League that began a couple of weeks ago when Persib played Semen Padang? The league that was going to have 24 clubs? Well, the latest is that there will be 18 teams when it kicks off again, though don't ask when that might be. Them folks have yet to finish a league that they started.

My Jakarta Globe column today features a timely interview with new Mitra Kukar manager Simon McMenemy.
I also spoke with Simon for Jakarta Casual TV

I guess better late than never. Singapore will be allowed to bring Hariss Harun, Khairul Nizam and Safuwan Baharuddin will be allowed to join up for their team mates at the SEA Games in Jakarta.
The trio are currently undergoing National Service in Singapore and there were fears they would not be allowed to take time off to represent their country.

Two venues being used in Jakarta for this year's SEA Games. These are the prices for the Group Stage at each venue
Bung Karno Stadium (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand)
VVIP - 250,000 IDRWest VIP - 150,000 IDREast Vip - 100,000 IDRCategory 1 - 75,000 IDRCategory 2 - 50,000 IDRCategory 3 - 25,000 IDRCategory 4 - 15,000 IDR
Lebak Bulus Stadium (Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor Leste, Vietnam)
Class 1 - 100,000 IDRClass 2 - 75,000 IDRClass 3 - 50,000 IDRClass 4 - 25,000 IDR
Opening games are at Bung Karno with Vietnam v Philippines at 4pm and Laos v Myanmar kick off 7pm.

Two venues being used in Jakarta for this year's SEA Games. These are the prices for the Group Stage at each venue
Bung Karno Stadium (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand)
VVIP - 250,000 IDRWest VIP - 150,000 IDREast Vip - 100,000 IDRCategory 1 - 75,000 IDRCategory 2 - 50,000 IDRCategory 3 - 25,000 IDRCategory 4 - 15,000 IDR
Lebak Bulus Stadium (Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor Leste, Vietnam)
Class 1 - 100,000 IDRClass 2 - 75,000 IDRClass 3 - 50,000 IDRClass 4 - 25,000 IDR
Opening games are at Bung Karno with Vietnam v Philippines at 4pm and Laos v Myanmar kick off 7pm.

Cambodia's sole target this year in international football has been the SEA Gams which start next month, hopefully, in Jakarta. The national team coach came out and said several months ago the World Cup Qualifiers, against Laos, weren't important, his eye was on regional glory.
To help prepare for that regional glory, they have been drawn with Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore so the definition of glory maybe an interesting one, Cambodia have played teams like a bunch of Korean students.

If the blog of the Philippine Football Federation treasurer is to be believed the Galaxy's post-season trip to Australia might be turning into LA's "Last Call for David Beckham" Tour*. PFF executive bean-counter Bonnie Ladrido, erm, spilled the beans last night by mentioning on his blog that LA Galaxy president Tom Payne will be in Manilla next week to tour facilities and all that other executive-type stuff.