Facts So Far We Need To Know About Tragedy At The Malang Stadium

Illustration of the deadly tragedy in Kanjuruhan Malang. (Photo via Antara/Rolandus Nampu)

JAKARTA - After almost three days, a heartbreaking tragedy that killed hundreds of human lives at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang, East Java, occurred. Several related institutions have also given a chronology of the incident.

The humanitarian tragedy in Kanjuruhan occurred after Persebaya Surabaya recorded a 3-2 victory over Arema FC in the match titled Super Derbi East Java, last Saturday, October 1. The match is a continuation of the 11th week of the Indonesian League 1 season of the 2022/2023 competition.

Moments after the incident, PSSI immediately gave an official statement on their website. The national football parent said the incident occurred after the match and they would investigate.

"From the video shows on social media that have been spread everywhere, it can be seen that there was a riot after the referee blew the long whistle," said PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi, as quoted by the federation website.

Arema's match against Persebaya actually ran very conducively for 90 minutes because only the host supporters were allowed to watch live. However, fun in the field occurred after the match came after Armenia (superther Arema) entered the field.

East Java Police Chief Inspector General Nico Afinta at a press conference on Sunday, also confirmed this. He said the process of running the match had absolutely no problems, but the disappointment of supporters after that became the trigger.

"There was disappointment from the audience who saw his dear team never lose in 23 years when they competed at home," said Afinta.

Initially, supporters with an estimated number of thousands took to the field. This then triggered the security forces to fire tear gas at the masses, and made supporters crammed out of the stadium and there was a mass buildup.

The shooting of tear gas in this stadium is what is said to be the cause of disaster in Kanjuruhan. The josses between the audience looking for a way out made many faint from running out of breath. The effects of tear gas also made things worse.

The death toll began to fall amid the shortness of the exit and the rooms inside the stadium. As of Sunday morning, it was reported that the number of victims had increased to 127 before the latest information stated that the death rate was already in 182 people.

That figure makes the second-largest Kanjuruhan tragedy in the history of world football after the tragedy at Estadio Nacional, Peru, in 1964, which killed 328 people. However, so far reports related to their own lives are still confusing.

After receiving the news that occurred in Malang, PSSI immediately conducted an investigation. The investigation team was led directly by the General Chairperson of Mochamad Iriawan.

PSSI also decided to prohibit Arema FC from holding home matches in the remainder of the 2022/2023 Liga 1 season.

In addition, PSSI also temporarily suspended the League 1 competition as a result of this deadly incident.

"Of course it is an evaluation of PSSI so that incidents like this don't happen again. We also immediately formed an investigation team for this incident. The team has been working starting today," said Iriawan.

"For the time being, we will stop the 2022/2023 Liga 1 competition for an unspecified time. In addition, the Arema FC team is prohibited from hosting the remainder of the competition this season," he added.

The termination of Liga 1 is in accordance with the direction of President Joko Widodo. The President has also asked the Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Zainudin Amali, the National Police Chief, and the General Chairperson of PSSI to conduct a thorough evaluation of the implementation of football matches, as well as security procedures for its implementation.

"I also ordered PSSI to temporarily suspend Liga 1, until the evaluation and improvement of security procedures are carried out," said the President, quoted from the Cabinet Secretariat website.

The President hopes that this incident at the Kanjuruhan Stadium will be the last football tragedy in Indonesia. He requested that the sportsmanship, a sense of humanity, and a sense of brotherhood of the Indonesian nation must be maintained together.

"I regret the tragedy, and I hope this is the last tragedy of football in the country. Don't let there be more human tragedy like this in the future," he added.

Meanwhile, PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi in the latest statement also confirmed the termination of the League 2 competition until an undetermined time limit.

"For Liga 1 and Liga 2, we have stopped. For the other events, they are not disturbed, especially for the AFC. We also hope that the government will continue to implement it because five countries are already in Indonesia," he said.