What Makes This City Yogyakarta
*draft of introduction to my co-authored work with Dimaz Maulana. Perhaps it will form a book. We’re working on it. The woman at the counter asked me about the work I do. I told her “writer”; which is an arrogant way of saying, “unemployed”. The next day, she asked me what am I writing about, […]
Sindhunata
Sindhunata The writings of Sindhunata are further evidence of the often greater-privileged status of global football over that of the national team and the domestic leagues of Indonesia. Sindhunata is the author of three books on football: Bola di Balik Bulan (The Ball Behind the Moon), Air Mata Bola (The Tears of the Ball) and […]
Seno Writes Soccer
Seno Writes Soccer, Seno Menulis Sepakbola Seno Gumira Ajidarma (born 1957, Boston), one of Indonesia’s most prominent authors, has contributed to the discourse on soccer in Indonesia through the means of short stories, journalism and academic writings. These writings reflect his trajectory as a writer and also the professions and jobs that he acquires. […]
Fajar Junaedi, Bonek
Fajar Junaedi, Bonek, Yogyakarta: Buku Litera, 2012. Fajar Junaedi’s Bonek: Komunitas Suporter Pertama dan Terbesar di Indonesia (Bonek: The First and Largest Supporter Community in Indonesia) is the first major study of football fans in Indonesia. It examines Bonek, the large and highly visible fan club of Surabaya’s Persebaya soccer team and traces the development […]
Zlatanism
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Lagercrantz, I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, trans.Ruth Urbom, London: Penguin, 2011. I am reading Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s autobiography yes I am. In the late 1990s, Malmo Football Club (Malmo Fotbollforening, MFF) was relegated to the second division. The documentary Bladarar shows some of their fans in tears as the final whistle of the […]
Politics of Soccer in Indonesia
Politics of Soccer in Indonesia Politik Sepakbola di Indonesia Nurdin Halid occupies the inglorious position of having been the only national soccer boss, to have run the sport’s governing body from within jail. He is perhaps also the most hated man in soccer in Indonesia: for he governed (mismanaged, corrupted) the PSSI (Perserikatan Sepak Bola […]
Bonek
Bonek I am reading Fajar Junaedi’s book Bonek: Grup Supporter Terbesar dan Pertama di Indonesia (Yogyakarta: Buku Litera 2012), yes I am. From my search of the KITLV catalogue, this appears to be the first monograph on a supporter group or soccer fans in Indonesia. Junaedi is an academic based at Universitas Muhamadiyah Yogyakarta. He […]
Books on Football in Indonesia
In Colombijn’s article on football in Indonesia he writes that his article is the first on football in Indonesia (Colombijn 2000). It seems impossible to find articles on ‘sport’ let alone ‘football’ in Indonesia from some of the usual sources for Indonesian studies – Indonesia, BKI, RIMA and others. In the list below is a […]