At least 127 Dead After Indonesian Soccer Match Stampede
Football Fans in Kanjuruhan Stadium, East Java (Wikimedia Commons)
Angry fans of Indonesian soccer club Arema Football Club stormed the field of Kanjuruhan Stadium, located in East Java, following the home team’s 3-2 defeat to Persebaya Surabaya on October 1. At least 127 people were killed, and at least 180 fans are being treated in hospitals. This fatal incident has roused public outcry over how the stampede unfolded.
As rowdy fans began throwing flares, bottles, and other objects, police officers attempted to dispel the mob with tear gas. However, this led to further chaos as a swarm of fans charged toward the stadium’s exits to escape, resulting in a crushing stampede. One eyewitness stated that the police fired numerous rounds of tear gas “continuously and fast” after the situation with fans escalated. After the stampede, East Java Police Chief Inspector General Nico Afinta assessed the situation, reporting that “there was a crush and because of that crush people were asphyxiated.”
The International Federation of Association of Football (FIFA) strongly condemns the police’s use of crowd control gas on fans. FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed his condolences to the families of victims, stating that “it was a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension.” However, soccer fans across the world argued that condolences are not enough and called for the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) to launch an investigation and hold officials accountable.
PSSI announced on October 4, three days after the incident, that it had permanently banned Arema FC’s chief executive and security coordinator and removed a police chief, along with nine elite officers. After its investigation into the stampede, PSSI found that a shortage in workers led to delays in unlocking the soccer stadium’s gates. Usually, the stadium gates are required to be unlocked ten minutes before the match ends. However, seven minutes after the referee blew the final whistle, the majority of the fourteen gates were still locked. The chief of PSSI’s discipline commission, Erwin Tobing, disclosed that “the doors should have been opened, but were closed.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo donated 50 million rupiahs (about 3,200 USD) to the families of each victim as “compensation.” Furthermore, President Widodo suspended all soccer games in Liga 1, Indonesia’s top soccer league.
Although this was one of the world’s deadliest soccer disasters in history, it is not the first time such an occurrence has happened. During the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, 30 people were killed and 600 were injured in Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, after a wall collapsed and crushed fans. In 1989, another crush at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, United Kingdom, killed 97 Liverpool fans at the club’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.
Recurring events where fans are injured or killed due to poor management have triggered questions as to whether regulations should be enforced for sports stadiums worldwide to protect fans’ well-being. Although FIFA’s safety standards are “recommendations,” soccer fans, families of victims, and human rights organizations are rallying for FIFA to regulate sports arenas’ adherence to safety codes to prevent deathly accidents from happening in the future.