The police did not care about FIFA’s requirements and provoked the mass death of fans.
Tens of thousands of fans filled the stands to watch their favorite team play, but when the final whistle sounded, some of them went to the field to express their displeasure. The police tried to calm the rioters, but their methods were wrong: the football festival turned into a real disaster.
The deadliest match of the century claimed the lives of almost two hundred fans.
“They started attacking the police”
On October 1, 2022, as part of the Indonesian Championship, the Arema football club hosted the Persebaya team. It was a completely ordinary match in which two average players met: it would seem that he had no chance of making history. The visitors scored a quick goal and then developed their advantage midway through the first half. The local team managed to equalize the score before the break, but could not save themselves from defeat. The outcome of the confrontation was decided by a goal by Japanese legionnaire Sho Yanomoto in the 51st minute – a 3:2 victory for Persebai.
Arema fans took the defeat painfully, about three thousand people ran onto the field, demanding to meet with the players and the club’s management. The crowd quickly moved towards the recipients of the unpleasant questions, but on the way they met the police. Law enforcement officers did not stand on ceremony.
Arema – Persebai / Photo: © Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Anadolu Agency / Gettyimages.ru
“They started attacking policemen, they damaged cars,” the East Java police chief later explained.
The goal of the police was clear – to restore order. But were the methods chosen correctly? Law enforcement agencies working at the match decided to use tear gas. As a result, not only active participants in the riots suffered, but also those fans who did not even think about running onto the field.
Incident of the century
Very quickly the situation on the field turned into complete chaos. The police did a tolerable job of preventing angry fans from getting to the match participants, but for some reason they didn’t care too much about the rest. The only way to leave the stadium, past the clouds of tear gas, was through the only exit. Both those who found themselves on the field and those who were simply trying to leave the stands strove for him. Of course, a crush in this case could not be avoided.
People lost consciousness and received terrible head injuries. For 323 spectators, a trip to the football game ended in injury, and 182 died in the stadium. Their bodies were piled right on the field. Among the latter were 40 children aged from 3 to 17 years. They hardly posed a threat to the participants in the match. The police nevertheless insisted that their actions were legal, although FIFA rules prohibit the use of tear gas in football arenas.
A year later, the investigation has still not been completed, which means there is no talk of punishing all those responsible. On the anniversary of the tragedy, families of the victims gathered outside the stadium to remember the victims. No one was allowed into the arena itself, and therefore relatives performed a collective prayer next to the stadium. However, after this the grass in the stadium caught fire.
— During the collective prayer, the participants lit hundreds of candles. It is suspected that several unscrupulous participants broke into the stadium, the Indonesian police said in a statement.
It is worth noting that the tragedy in Indonesia became the deadliest football incident of this century. And in all of history, only a match at the Peruvian Nacional Stadium in 1964 claimed more lives: 328 people did not survive the match between the Peruvian national team and the Argentine team.
2023-10-03 10:54:39
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