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We must ban tear gas use in sports stadiums, for good
Police crowd control tactics affect countless victims worldwide every year.
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Ominous: A cloud of tear gas rises over the stands at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, after the match between home team Arema FC and rival Persebaya Surabaya on Oct. 1. (Kompas.com/Suci Rahayu)
O
n Oct. 1, 131 people died and more than 300 were injured in a stampede in Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java. The reason? Tear gas.
Police fired tear gas into a packed stadium when fans invaded the soccer field at the end of a game. Instead of controlling the crowd, the police caused chaos and a mad rush of crowds heading for the exits. A stampede ensued, crushing hundreds of people. Among the dead were at least 40 children.
A few days later, on the other side of the planet, hundreds were injured and a man died of cardiac arrest in similar circumstances in a stadium in Argentina as a result of people trying to escape from tear gas. This time, the canisters were fired just outside the stadium but the winds blew the smoke in.
On the eve of the Qatar World Cup and in the face of FIFA’s inadequate response to the Malang tragedy, national law enforcement in every country must acknowledge the dangers of chemical irritants. Tear gas must be explicitly banned in sports stadiums. FIFA should demand this discussion and stand up for its fans.
The events surrounding the authorities’ intervention during the Malang derby remain under investigation. In the meantime, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) led an independent group inquiry on the police operation and discovered a series of irregularities.
The police inside the stadium were armed with tear gas and ready for deployment as early as the second half of the game, before home team Arema lost and before fans took to the pitch. The police claimed to have reacted to violent fans intimidating players and staff. Interviewed witnesses state that many fans had gone to the pitch to show support for their defeated team when a police officer shot the first gas canister into the packed stands. This sent people scrambling toward narrow evacuation routes, some of which were sealed shut.
In reaction to the outcry caused by the tragedy, the government formed the Joint Independent Fact Finding Team (TGIPF) led by the Law and Human Rights minister to investigate the events. The team issued no conclusions regarding the alleged crimes committed by security forces, despite evidence pointing to high-level individuals.
