JAKARTA • Bali United soared on its stock market debut in Jakarta on Monday, marking the first time that a South-east Asian football club has gone public.
The listing puts the team among top clubs Manchester United, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, which have also previously offered their shares.
The Bali side's parent company jumped nearly 70 per cent on Monday after an initial public offering (IPO) that raised a modest 350 billion rupiah (S$34 million).
About one-third of team owner Bali Bintang Sejahtera was sold at 175 rupiah per share. Its ticker is BOLA, or ball in Indonesian.
Some new shareholders are die-hard fans of Bali United, which is in second spot in Indonesia's top flight Liga 1, officials said.
"The Bali United brand will become more positive as a professional club with massive support from fans," said Mr Iwan Budianto, acting chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
"PSSI will always support and hope that there will be other clubs that will follow Bali United's move," he added.
While it has a low international profile, Indonesia has attracted some foreign talent in the past, including former Chelsea star Michael Essien and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Didier Zokora.
But while some local clubs have large fan bases, the country's leagues have frequently been tarnished by match-fixing claims and also deadly violence between opposing sets of supporters.
"We hope that this IPO will increase the overall transparency between investors, management and the fans, who will now have a chance to own shares," said the club's chief executive Yabes Tanuri.
Bali United supporters snapped up nearly a third of the shares, primarily in small holdings, according to the listing's underwriter, Kresna Securities.
For many, it was the first time they had owned shares and some hoped it could at least help in the fight against corruption in the game.
"With the IPO, we the supporters will know information like how players are exchanged and what prices are paid for them," said Bali United fan Adi Wijaya.
"If all the soccer clubs professionalise like Bali, then they can be kept in check by investors and OJK (the financial regulator)."
PSSI, Indonesian soccer's governing body, is currently embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, with police investigating some executives for allegedly offering bribes to coaches.
REUTERS
