When the World Holds Silence For The Victims Of The Kanjuruhan Tragedy

A silent action before Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk's match in the Champions League (Twitter @realmadriden)

JAKARTA - The world football body FIFA and the Asian football federation AFC have expressed their sympathy, condolences, and solidarity with Indonesia in connection with the tragedy that killed 131 people at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency, East Java, last Saturday, October 1, after the Arema F match against Persebaya.

However, the European soccer body (UEFA) went further by stating that every football match under UEFA this week must be preceded by a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the Kanjuruhan Tragedy, as well as solidarity with Indonesia and the Indonesian football community.

The decision was in line with the move by most European football leagues a day or two earlier to make a similar tribute to the Kanjuruhan Tragedy.

At that time the players of big European clubs who had a large fan base in Indonesia, wore black bands on their arms.

What a great show of solidarity that the European football community has shown to Indonesia. This scene also occurs in several other regions, although not as colossal as in Europe.

Although there is no official statement from the AFC, which this week also has a schedule for continental football matches in the AFC Cup, several spontaneous tournaments have done the same thing with Europe.

Launching Antara, Friday, in Kuwait, for example, the Indonesian and Taiwanese futsal national team players and the referee observed a moment of silence before the 2022 Futsal Asian Cup match was held on Sunday, October 2.

Among them, only UEFA has done it on such a large scale.

On Tuesday, October 4, European football's governing body announced that "Today UEFA announces that a moment of silence will be held before Kickoff in memory of the victims of the tragic events at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Indonesia."

This moment of silence will be observed in all UEFA matches this week (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Women's World Cup playoffs).

This moment was not only a sign of solidarity and a show of European sympathy for Indonesia but also a very rare moment that might only be lost during major disasters, such as the earthquake and tsunami, which also hit Indonesia several years ago.