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Doubts remain over new police sports policy
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This picture taken on Oct. 1 shows tear gas released by police among people crowded in the stands after a football match between Arema FC and Persebaya at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java. (AFP/STR)
T
he National Police issued a regulation on policing sports events earlier this month to prevent any recurrence of the fatal Kanjuruhan Stadium stampede, but critics are wary of lessons not learned.
Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo signed Internal Regulation No. 10/2022 on securing sports matches last month, which was later approved by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly on Nov. 4.
The policy was issued as a response to recommendations by a government-sanctioned fact-finding team, which found that October’s deadly stampede in the East Java town of Malang that killed 131 people, including 32 children, was mainly triggered by an unwarranted use of tear gas by the police force.
The team recommended the police issue an internal regulation on securing sports competitions, particularly soccer matches.
The police followed this up and issued the regulation that bans the use of tear gas at any matches held by the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) to prevent the deadly incident from recurring.
In a bid to prevent potential violence among spectators, the police regulation also bans certain objects, including sharp weapons, matches and drinking bottles being brought into sports venues.
"The police regulation is encouraging because it has yet to be specifically stipulated in other regulations,” team member Laode Muhammad Syarif said. "This regulation bans the use of tear gas in sports events."
