Football is hot and on fire in
Java’s easternmost region of Banyuwangi. Not because fans are eagerly waiting
the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, but because the game is played here with a
ball that is literally on fire.
Barefooted, most
players come from Muslim boarding schools. They may play the burning ball on a
concrete court normally used to dry rice, to a wider grass court.
It is just like the
sport of football played anywhere in the world, with kicking, heading,
penalties, a referee, a commentator, and spectators, only in this version it is
held at night, with a burning ball and played for a shorter period of time.
The ball is made from a
coconut which has been soaked for a couple of hours in kerosene. During each
match, the referee has to stop the play a couple of times in order to pour more
kerosene when the fire fades.
According to one of a
school teachers at a Muslim boarding school in Banyuwangi, H. Nursalim,
there is no magic involved in the match.
Among people from other
regencies, especially in East Java , Banyuwangi
is identified as a hotbed for magic. In the late 1990s, dozens of alleged black
magic practitioners were murdered. Some of them, however, turned out to be
religious teachers, peasants and shamans. They became the victims of prejudice
and hatred. The perpetrators of the killing spree remain a mystery to this day.
“What I have told them
to do is to perfrom wudhu before playing and pray Bismillahirrohmanirrohim (In
the name of Allah, the compassionate and the merciful),” Nursalim said. Wudhu
is a tirual of cleansing performed by every Muslim before daily worship. Its
ritual includes washing with running water five parts of the body: the face,
two hands, the head, two ears, and two feet.
“In the act of
prostration while we pray, sevens parts of our body touch the earth. So, we
decided seven should be the number of players in a team,” said Nursalim.
The popularity of the
school’s fire football team has extended to other neighboring regencies of
Situbondo, Besuki and Panarukan. The school’s team has often been invited to
the regencies to play a charity events. All of the proceeds are normally used
to build mosques, Nursalim said.
To make the game more
interesting, organizers of the charity matches often claim the school teams
come from opposite parts of Banyuwangi and that they are in competition. And
for this purpose, the school has prepared several colored jerseys. In the event
of playing in other regions, they entertain the spectators by holding the match
on a real football field.
So far, none of the
students have been injured. Intensive training normally takes place in the
Islamic month of Sya’ban before the students end their academic calendar at the
school.
“What is most important
to us is that the students are having fun.”
(In the old days,
children in Banyuwangi practice fire-footballing in smaller alleys, in a vacant
badminton field or nearby school yard using terracota bricks which have
been made into balls. It is soaked in kerosene for two days and the fire lasts
longer than those of coconut ball.
It was a good past time during Ramadhan when most schools were
in holiday.)
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