President Jokowi Orders PUPR Minister Basuki to Audit All Football Stadiums in Indonesia

President Joko Widodo Widodo reviewed the condition of the Kanjuruhan Malang Stadium, East Java on Wednesday (5/10/2022). ANTARA/HO-Rusman - Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo ordered an audit of all football stadiums in Indonesia to prevent the Kanjuruhan tragedy from happening again.

"I have also ordered a total audit of all stadiums used for the league, both Liga 1, Liga 2, and League 3, all of them whether the gates are according to the standard wide enough, whether the gates are of the standard size, who is in charge of the field management, all of them", said the President at the Regional General Hospital (RSUD) dr. Saiful Anwar, Malang City, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 5.

President Joko Widodo accompanied by Mrs. Iriana Jokowi visited dr. Saiful Anwar Hospital, Malang City, East Java, to see the condition of survivors of the football tragedy in Kanjuruhan.

"From this incident, we have to improve all match management, field management, stadium management, we all have to have a total audit, we don't want an event like this in Kanjuruhan to happen again in our country", said the President.

The task of auditing the stadium was given by President Jokowi to the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono.

"I have ordered the Minister of Public Works to conduct an audit of the stadium building, including the entire building, of all stadiums used in league 1, 2, 3 to repair the doors, gates, then the position of the building, fences, and others so that the safety of the audience, The safety of the supporters is what we want to prioritize", said President Jokowi at the Kanjuruhan Stadium

In addition to meeting with the victims, President Jokowi also visited the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang Regency to get an idea of ​​the layout of the stadium with a capacity of around 35,000 spectators.

"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 but I only saw the field, later everything will be concluded by an independent search team. Once again, the most important fact is that all stadium buildings will be audited by the Ministry of Public Works", said the President.

President Jokowi also gave the Ministry of PUPR 1 month to audit the stadium.

"The stadium audit is the same, one month because if we look at the GBK with 80,000 spectators, the door is opened in 15 minutes, and everyone can come out. I think we must have these standards", added the President.

The president also said the International Football Federation (FIFA) expressed its readiness to help improve the governance.

"When I spoke on Monday by telephone, with FIFA President Giovanni Infantino he said FIFA is ready to help improve the existing management. I think it needs a total evaluation of everything, both match management, stadium management, audience management, time management, and security management. Everything must be thoroughly evaluated. So that the events that happened at the Kanjuruhan Stadium do not happen again, everything is clear", said the President.

The joint independent fact-finding team (TGIPF) chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud Md was also tasked with finding out in detail the main causes of the tragedy at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.

"We know that an independent joint fact-finding team has been formed, chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs. We hope that this team will soon be able to complete its tasks, so that we know very well the main cause of the tragedy on October 1 at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang", said the President.

Jokowi stressed that the joint team would later collect facts and all information from various parties and then convey it thoroughly to the public. Teams will share tasks according to their respective fields.

"Sanctions from PSSI exist. Criminals will be announced later by the Police, so they will be divided. The audit for the building that will deliver will be from the Ministry of Public Works, but overall, an independent joint team of fact-finding will deliver", he continued.

The Kanjuruhan tragedy occurred after the riot that broke out after the audience entered the Kanjuruhan Stadium field after the Indonesian League 1 match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya which ended with a score of 2-3 on Saturday, October 1 night.

The riots, which were answered by security officers with tear gas fired at the stands, have claimed at least 125 confirmed deaths. Meanwhile, the Governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, stated that there were an additional 6 deaths, bringing the total to 131.

The six fatalities were not recorded by the Police Dokpol, because after the Kanjuruhan tragedy, the identities of the six victims were immediately identified by their families who immediately buried them in the village public cemetery around the Kanjuruhan Stadium.