Panic and a chaotic rush for the exits after police fired tear gas at an Indonesian soccer match to drive away fans upset over their team’s loss left at least 125 dead, most of whom were trampled or suffocated , making it one of the deadliest sporting events in the world. the world.
Attention immediately focused on police use of tear gas, with witnesses describing police hitting them with batons and shields before firing canisters directly into the crowd.
The FIFA president called the deaths at the stadium “a dark day for everyone involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension”, while President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation into security procedures . Although FIFA has no control over domestic games, it has advised against the use of tear gas in football stadiums.
Police officers and soldiers stand amid tear gas smoke after clashes between fans during a soccer match at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
Violence broke out after the match ended on Saturday evening with hosts Arema FC from the East Javanese city of Malang losing to Surabaya’s Persebaya 3-2.
Disappointed by their team’s defeat, thousands of supporters of Arema, known as “Aremania”, reacted by throwing bottles and other objects at the players and football officials. Witnesses said fans flooded the Kanjuruhan Stadium pitch and demanded Arema’s management to explain why, after 23 years of unbeaten home games against Persebaya, it ended in defeat.
The violence spread outside the stadium where at least five police vehicles were overturned and set on fire. Riot police responded by firing tear gas, including into the stands of the stadium, causing panic among the crowd.
Spectator Ahmad Fatoni said police had started hitting fans with sticks and shields, and they fought back.
Women cry after receiving confirmation that a family member is among the dead in soccer riots, at a hospital in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
“The officers fired tear gas directly at the spectators in the stands, forcing us to run towards the exit,” he said. “Many victims fell out of breath and difficulty seeing due to the tear gas and were trampled.”
He said he climbed onto the roof of the stands and only came down when the situation calmed down.
Others suffocated and were trampled as hundreds of people ran for the exits to avoid the tear gas. In the chaos, 34 died at the stadium, including two officers, and some reports include children among the victims.
“We have already taken preventive action before finally firing the tear gas when (the fans) started attacking the police, acting in an anarchic manner and burning vehicles,” East Java police chief Nico Afinta said in a press conference early Sunday.
More than 300 were rushed to hospitals, but many died en route and during treatment, Afinta said.
People searching for their relatives inspect photographs of soccer riot victims provided by volunteers to help them identify their relatives in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the number of victims had been revised to 125 from 174, after authorities found that some of the victims were counted twice. More than 100 were receiving intensive treatment in eight hospitals, 11 of them in critical condition.
“The stadium turned into a smoke-filled battlefield when the police fired tear gas,” said Rizky, who came with his cousin to watch the game.
“It felt hot and stinging in my eyes, I couldn’t see well as my head was spinning and everything went dark … I passed out,” she said. When he woke up, he was already in the emergency room. He said his cousin died of head injuries.
“We wanted to entertain ourselves by watching a football game, but we had a disaster,” he said.
Indonesia’s soccer association, known as PSSI, suspended Ligue 1 soccer indefinitely in light of the tragedy and banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the rest of the season.
Television reports showed police and rescuers evacuating the injured and carrying the dead to ambulances.
Officers examine a damaged police vehicle after a clash between supporters of two Indonesian soccer teams at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
Grieving relatives awaited information about their loved ones at the Saiful Anwar General Hospital in Malang. Others tried to identify the bodies deposited in a morgue while medical workers put an identification tag on the bodies of the victims.
“I deeply regret this tragedy and I hope this is the last football tragedy in this country, don’t let another human tragedy like this happen in the future,” Widodo said in a televised speech. “We must continue to maintain the sportsmanship, humanity and sense of brotherhood of the Indonesian nation.”
He ordered the Minister of Youth and Sports, the head of the national police and the presidency of the PSSI to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the country’s football and its security procedure.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali, also regretted that “this tragedy happened when we were preparing for football activities, both nationally and internationally”.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis said he was praying for “all those who lost their lives and were injured in the clashes that broke out after a soccer match in Malang, Indonesia.”
More than 120 people have died after police fired tear gas at a soccer match in Indonesia. (AP)
Indonesia will host the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11, with 24 teams participating. As the host country, the country automatically qualifies for the cup.
“Unfortunately, this incident has damaged our football image,” Amali said.
In a statement, FIFA president Gianni Infantino expressed his condolences on behalf of the global football community, saying “the world of football is in shock”. The statement did not mention the use of tear gas.
Ferli Hidayat, Malang’s local police chief, said there were about 42,000 spectators at Saturday’s game, all of them Arema supporters because the organizer had banned Persebaya fans from entering the stadium to prevent fights .
The restriction was imposed after clashes between supporters of the two rival teams at East Java’s Blitar Stadium in February 2020 caused 250 million rupiah ($25,500) in damage. Brawls were reported outside the stadium during and after the East Java Governor’s Cup semi-finals, which ended with Persebaya defeating Arema 4-2.
A pair of sneakers sit trampled in the stands at Kanjuruhan Stadium after a deadly soccer match stampede, in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
Rights groups responded to the tragedy by blaming the use of tear gas at the stadium by police.
Citing FIFA’s stadium security guidelines against the use of “crowd control gas” by ground stewards or police, Amnesty International called on Indonesian authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and independent on the use of tear gas at Kanjuruhan Stadium.
“Those found to have committed violations are tried in a public court and not just face internal or administrative sanctions,” said Usman Hamid, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia.
He said tear gas should only be used to disperse crowds when widespread violence has occurred and when other methods have failed. People should be warned that tear gas will be used and that they will be allowed to disperse. “No one should lose their life in a football match,” Hamid said.
Motorists drive past the wreckage of a burnt car during a clash between supporters of two soccer teams, outside the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. (AP)
Despite Indonesia’s lack of international acclaim in the sport, hooliganism is widespread in the soccer-obsessed country, where fanaticism often ends in violence, as in the 2018 death of a Persija Jakarta fan who was killed by a crowd of hardcore fans of rival club Persib Bandung. in 2018.
Saturday’s match already ranks among the world’s worst crowd disasters, including the 1996 World Cup qualifier between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City, where more than 80 died and more than 100 were injured . In April 2001, more than 40 people were crushed to death during a soccer match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.