TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Death toll in football stampede reaches 174, league suspended
When frustrated supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in Malang in the province of East Java late on Saturday, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, triggering the stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Insp. Gen. Nico Afinta told reporters.
Change Size
Motorists commute outside Kanjuruhan stadium the morning after a football match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in Malang, East Java on October 2, 2022. (AFP/AFP)
A
t least 174 people were killed and 180 injured in a stampede and riot at a soccer match in East Java, officials said on Sunday, in one of the world's worst stadium disasters.
When frustrated supporters of the losing home team invaded the pitch in Malang in the province of East Java late on Saturday, officers fired tear gas in an attempt to control the situation, triggering the stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Insp. Gen. Nico Afinta told reporters.
"It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars," Nico said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate.
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya around 10 p.m. (1500 GMT). Scuffles can be seen, with what appeared to be tear gas in the air.
Images showed people who appeared to have lost consciousness being carried away by other fans.
The head of one of the hospitals in the area treating patients told Metro TV that some of the victims had sustained brain injuries and that the fatalities included a five-year-old child.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be "the last soccer tragedy in the nation."
Jokow ordered the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) to suspend all games in the Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed.
Tear Gas Rules, Overcapacity
World soccer's governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or "crowd control gas" should be carried or used by stewards or police.
East Java police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they were aware of such regulations.
FIFA has requested a report on the incident from Indonesia's PSSI football association, and a PSSI team has been sent to Malang to investigate, PSSI secretary general Yunus Nusi told reporters.
The National Commission on Human Rights also plans to investigate security at the ground, including the use of tear gas, its commissioner told Reuters.
Amnesty International Indonesia slammed the security measures, saying the "use of excessive force by the state ... to contain or control such crowds cannot be justified at all".
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister, Mahfud MD, said in an Instagram post that the stadium had been filled beyond its capacity. He said 42,000 tickets had been issued for a stadium that is only supposed to hold 38,000 people.
Before Jokowi's announcement, PSSI apologised to victims' families and suspended football matches of Indonesia's top league, BRI Liga 1, for one week.
It also banned Arema FC from hosting home games for the rest of the season.
The association had communicated with FIFA about the stampede and hopes to avoid sanctions from the world football governing body, PSSI secretary general Yunus Yussi told a press conference.
On why police used tear gas inside the stadium, he said they "had to take some measures to anticipate" spectators entering the pitch, AFP reported.
The Asian Football Confederation, the governing body for football in the region, expressed its regret at the loss of lives in the disaster.
Worst In Half Century
Financial aid would be given to the injured and the families of victims, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa told reporters.
There have been outbreaks of trouble at matches in Indonesia before, with strong rivalries between clubs sometimes leading to violence among supporters.
Indonesia's football scene has been blighted by hooliganism, heavy-handed policing and mismanagement, largely preventing the country of 275 million people who pack stadiums from harnessing its potential in the sport.
Zainudin Amali, Youth and Sports minister, told KompasTV the ministry would re-evaluate safety at football matches, including considering not allowing spectators in stadiums.
The Malang stadium disaster appeared to be the deadliest since 1964, when 328 people were reported dead in a riot and crush when Peru hosted Argentine at the Estadio Nacional.
In an infamous 1989 British disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death when an overcrowded and fenced-in enclosure collapsed at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
Indonesia is scheduled to host the FIFA under-20 World Cup in May and June next year. They are also one of three countries bidding to stage next year's Asian Cup, the continent's equivalent of the Euros, after China pulled out as hosts.
The head of the Asian Football Confederation, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement he was "deeply shocked and saddened to hear such tragic news coming out of football-loving Indonesia", expressing condolences for the victims, their families and friends.
