With the friendly match between a BNI Indonesia All-Stars side and EPL club Chelsea looming, state-owned bank Bank Negara Indonesia "has been forced to refund fans who had paid for pre-match events, including a meet and greet with the Chelsea players," according to the JAKARTA GLOBE. BNI Consumer & Retail Banking Dir Darmadi Sutanto said in a statement that BNI "has requested fans who bought tickets to attend the three pre-match events: the meet and greet, jersey signing, and a coaching clinic, to apply for a refund." He went on to say BNI "had followed standard procedures by charging for these events when foreign teams visit Indonesia, but understood Chelsea’s desire for a different approach." Darmadi said, "However, we want to respect Chelsea’s philosophy on their preseason tour ‘Here to Play, Here to Stay,’ so both BNI and the promoters have agreed to waive the charges and refund fans who had previously purchased tickets for the extra events." Chelsea had earlier announced it would refund the fans who paid £1,500 ($2,300) for the meet-and-greet with the players and £330 ($507) for a charity coaching clinic. The club added that the events, including the meet-and-greet and coaching clinic, "have to be ticketed due to the high demand and fans in Thailand and Malaysia, who attended similar events, had not been charged" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 7/22).
