Tragedy in Malang stopped Indonesian football - Sport - Kommersant

Tragedy in Malang stopped Indonesian football - Sport - Kommersant



More than 120 people were killed in a clash involving fans after the match between the Indonesian championship in Malang city between Arema and Persebaya clubs. The police tried to stop the riots by using tear gas.

Today, the International Football Federation (FIFA) released statement its President Gianni Infantino. It said that "the football world is in a state of shock due to the tragic incidents in Indonesia."

The incident occurred at a crowded 40,000-seat Kanjuruhan stadium in the Indonesian city of Malang. There, on Sunday, October 2, in the framework of the national championship, two principal rivals met - the local club "Arema" and "Persebaya". The riots began after the final whistle, which recorded a 3-2 victory for the guests, when fans of the losing team rushed onto the field. They tried to attack the players and referees.

In total, according to news agencies, about 3 thousand people ended up on the lawn.

The police tried to stop the hooligan actions, and reinforcements were called in to help the employees who were on duty at the stadium during the match. However, the fans resisted fiercely. Videos filmed inside the arena show them throwing objects at law enforcement vehicles. According to police, 13 cars were damaged in total. The records published by eyewitnesses of the events also clearly show how the police and stewards in response to the actions of the fans spray tear gas, which is prohibited by FIFA regulations. Muhamad Dipo Maulana, who was present at the stadium, told the BBC that it was used "repeatedly" and that not only the hooligans who fought with the police were injured, but also the "old people and children" who remained in the stands.

Nico Aphinta, head of the East Java provincial police, said that fans who ran out onto the field, fleeing the gas, rushed out of the stadium, "creating a stampede." Because of it, according to him, "there was a lack of oxygen."

For several hours, the Indonesian authorities counted the number of deaths as a result of the emergency. The figure grew constantly, and by the middle of the day it had reached 125 people, including two police officers. About a quarter of them died directly at the stadium, the rest - either in the hospital or on the way to it. At least 180 more people received various injuries.

The Malang Medical Department noted that some of the victims died of asphyxiation, while others were simply "trampled".

Doctors working in hospitals that receive victims of the emergency, add that some of them came with severe head injuries.

Various media resources, such as the BBC and Reuters, believe that the tragedy in Indonesia can be considered the worst in the history of football for more than half a century, that is, since 1964. Then in Peru, during the riots during the qualifying match for the Olympic tournament between the local and Argentine national teams, 328 people were killed. The scale of the main tragedies in European football is still noticeably smaller. The two most famous among them date back to the 1980s and are associated with English clubs. In 1985, before the European Cup final at the Heusel Stadium in Brussels between Liverpool and Juventus, a group of Liverpool fans, attacking fans of the Italian team, provoked the collapse of the support wall of the stand and the death of 39 people. In 1989, the stampede at the Sheffield Hillsborough Arena, which hosted the FA Cup semi-final between Nottham and Liverpool, had even more terrible consequences. She claimed the lives of 96 people.

For the Indonesian authorities, the riots in Malang turned into an occasion to finally pay close attention to the fact that in this country the security problem at football games, unlike England, which almost got rid of it, never lost its relevance, and various incidents at matches even ceased. perceived as extraordinary. President Joko Widodo called for a "thorough investigation" of the incident and stressed that "this tragedy should be the last" in the history of the state.

The investigation will be closely monitored by FIFA, which has already asked the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) for a detailed report on the incidents.

PSSI, in turn, announced that it was suspending the national championship until the end of the investigation.

Alexey Dospekhov



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