Persema is now popular as the club that first hired European - born naturalized players Irfan Bachdim and Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan whose nominations to the Indonesian under- 23 national football team in 2011 were cancelled by the Indonesian Football Association .
They chose to play in the breakaway league .
Persema is now popular as the club that first hired European - born naturalized players Irfan Bachdim and Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan whose nominations to the Indonesian under- 23 national football team in 2011 were cancelled by the Indonesian Football Association because they chose to play in the breakaway league .