Hundreds killed and scores were left injured following a stampede in Indonesia soccer stadium in east Java city of Malang.
Reports shows that Arema FC fans had invaded Kanjuruhan stadium in East Malang after their side had been defeated 3-2 by Persebaya Surabaya. The police resorted to using tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd but the move turned to cause tragedy as the fans suffered suffocation while others fell on to be trampled as they panickingly rushed to exit the stadium. Death toll had been earlier reported to be as high as 174 with atleast 100 people left injured with numbers being revised to 125 by the East Java Vice Governor Emil Dadark as per Aljazeera. The Vice cited double naming to be the cause of high numbers earlier reported but upon review the numbers reduced to 125.
The tragedy which occurred on Saturday evening left atleast 35 dead inside the stadium including two police officers as they retalietad panic caused by the officers who tried dispersing them using tear gas. Kanjuruhan stadium which holds a maximum capacity of 42000 people had been sold out and according to local authorities atleast 3000 fans had invaded the pitch after the final whistle. Video footages acquired from local stations showed fans invading the pitch after the 3-2 defeat of Arema with police firing teargas in the air in the following sequence of events.
Police vehicles and other cars parked outside the stadium were torched in a stampede that involved kids and women. In an interview with AFP news agency, a fan claimed that there was no riot and they couldn’t understand why the police had to fire tear gas. “Officers fired tear gas, and automatically people were rushing to come out, pushing each other and it caused many victims, nothing was happening, there was no riot. I don’t know what the issue was, they suddenly fired tear gas. That’s what shocked me, didn’t they think about kids, women?” he said.
Mahfud MD the minister for legal, political and security affairs pointed out the ignorance by the match organizers following government directives on number of tickets which were to be printed and timing of the match. He claimed that they had given organizers go ahead to print 38000 tickets but they went on a sold out of 42000, similarly, they ignored timing of afternoon match and instead scheduled it for evening. “The government has made improvements to the implementation of football matches and will continue to improve. But this sport, which is a favourite of the wider community, often provokes supporters to express emotions suddenly,” he said via Instagram post.
Indonesia president Joko Widodo has since then ordered an investigation of the incident and suspended all the football leagues within his jurisdiction until security measures are improved. “I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this football tragedy will be the last in our country,” said Joko Widodo.
Speaking to the media about the issue, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that the football world is in shock following the tragedy. “All our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, those who have been injured, together with the people of the Republic of Indonesia,” Said Infantino.
Arema has since been suspended from hosting games until the end of the season by The Football Association of Indonesia as they vowed to send a group of investigators to establish the cause of the stampede. Use of firearms and tear gas in stadiums is an offense according to the FIFA rules under safety and regulations. Amnesty International Indonesia through its executive director Usman Hamid has since urged the government to conduct an investigation on the matter and parties involved tried in court of law.
Football violence has been on the rise in Indonesia with fan rivalry especially between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya being on the books for quite some time now. Indonesia is not the only nation facing uphill task in controlling fan during heated derbies as the problem has been a disease in various leagues across the world including the coveted EPL, with fresh memories of Hillsborough tragedy still fresh in memories of Liverpool supporters which saw 96 fans losing their lives im 1989.
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