 In fact, Persebaya rival was Persema Malang in Perserikatan, whereas Arema were against Mitra Surabaya (formerly known as Niac Mitra) in Galatama.The situation had changed since Perserikatan and Galatama were merged into Liga Indonesia in 1994.Despite Persema and Mitra Surabaya were still in the competition at that time, Persebaya and Arema were gaining much attention from their supporters.