Menpora Suggests Jokowi Not to Directly Audit All Stadiums, But There Are Priorities

Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali (photo: son/kemenpora.go.id)

JAKARTA - Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Zainudin Amali, proposed to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) that the audit process of all instructed soccer stadiums should be prioritized only for stadiums used by Indonesian League 1 clubs.

The proposal was conveyed by the Minister of Youth and Sports during a meeting with President Jokowi at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Friday, October 7.

"I conveyed to the President, we prioritize the stadiums that are currently being used for competitions. His directions are all over Indonesia, now we prioritize which ones will be audited", Amali said to the media crew at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.

The Minister of Youth and Sports admitted that the priority of Liga 1 stadiums to be audited was based on efforts so that the highest caste competition did not stop for too long.

Of course, at the same time as the audit process was carried out, Menpora also worked as Deputy Chairman of the Joint Independent Fact Finding Team (TGIPF) of the Kanjuruhan Tragedy assigned by President Jokowi to investigate the deadly incident.

"In League 1, there are 18 (clubs). That's what we prioritized. That was because this competition shouldn't stop for too long. After all, it's a matter of salaries, players, and others", Amali said as reported by Antara.

For information, there are currently 16 stadiums registered by 18 clubs as their home stadium in navigating the 2022-23 Indonesian Liga 1.

Two stadiums are used as shared cages by the two teams, namely the Pakansari Stadium in Bogor and the Indomilk Arena in Tangerang. Pakansari became the joint home for Persikabo 1973 and RANS Nusantara, while the Indomilk Arena, apart from being the headquarters of Persita Tangerang, was also used by Dewa United FC.

Meanwhile, Persebaya Surabaya had used the Delta Sidoarjo Stadium as their home ground some time ago because the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Surabaya was used for the U-20 Asian Cup qualifying match.

The Menpora stated that the stadium audit would primarily check and/or improve access in and out based on lessons learned from the Kanjuruhan Tragedy.

President Jokowi had previously ordered an audit of all football stadiums in Indonesia, whether used for Liga 1, Liga 2, and League 3 after directly visiting Kanjuruhan Stadium last Wednesday, October 5.

In addition to a physical stadium audit, the President also instructed a comprehensive improvement in match management, field management, and stadium management.

"Later, the Joint Fact-Finding Team will have to look in detail, but as an illustration, I saw earlier that there was a locked door and also a ladder that was too sharp, plus there was panic. Once again, the most important thing is that all stadium buildings will be audited by the Ministry of Public Works", said the President at the time.

The Kanjuruhan tragedy killed at least 125 victims based on data from the National Police Documentation (Dokpol) after security officers fired tear gas at the stands after the riots.

However, the Governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, stated that six other fatalities were not recorded by the Police Dokpol because the bodies had been identified and buried by their families and relatives before data was collected from the National Police Documentation.