The Kanjuruhan tragedy is recorded as one of the deathliest football matches in the world. The riot of supporters after the Liga 1 match between Arema Malang and Persebaya Surabaya resulted in 125 people dead and others injured. This incident is due to Arema supporters’ dissatisfaction with the loss of their team.
As police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the riot, the panic in the tribune happens as thousands of supporters attempted to flee out of the stadium to avoid it causing many deaths.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) instructed the Liga 1 competition to be stopped at once and demanded the incident be thoroughly investigated.
The world of football expresses its deepest condolences. The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, expresses his sympathy to the families affected. Up until this moment, it is unknown if FIFA will give sanctions to Indonesia.
Sadly, the Kanjuruhan tragedy is not the first-time supporters died in Indonesia’s football match riot. Here are some of the matches that end in tragedy in previous years.
In 1967, a football match riot killed three people and injured four in Percut village, North Sumatra. A dispute happened in the match commemorating the 22nd Independence of Indonesia. The incident is quoted as “punches are thrown between the players, which eventually spread between the audience. The incident escalated into a fight, burning houses between the two sides, with total loss recorded: 15 houses burned, 2 damaged, 3 dead and 4 injured.”
Fast forward to 1977 at Glora Bung Karno Main Stadium, where supporters of the last match of the Piala Bang Ali football match are enraged at the cessation of Persija’s match against Persebaya. Despite there being no fatalities, the main stadium was heavily damaged.
The death of a supporter is recorded on Liga Dunhill in Yogyakarta. After the PSIM match against Persebaya at the Mandala Krida Stadium, a man was trampled to death. Due to this incident, the Minister of State for Youth and Sports at that time Hayono Isman suggested using the articles in the Subversion Law against football rioters in the league which was felt to be increasingly concerning.
Another supporter trampled to death happened in Kanjuruhan Stadium on July 2005 due to the lack of preparedness from the organizing committee in anticipating the surge in spectators watching Arema Malang against Persija Jakarta. A crowd riot caused the death of the audience in the Djarum League semifinal match between Persipura Jayapura and PSMS Medan at the Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Wednesday (6/2/2008) evening.
Fast forward to the 26th Final Sea Games in 2011 with two supporters trampled to death when they were about to enter the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium to watch the match between the Indonesian U-23 National Team and the Malaysian National Team.
A riot between supporters on September 2018 caused the death of one of Jakarta Persija’s supporters after being assaulted by the opponent’s supporters the Persib Bandung. Another supporter’s death happened too in 2022 on the Piala Presiden 2022 in June.
Before the Kanjuruhan tragedy, a supporter of PSS Sleman was assaulted to death in a supporter riot on July 2022. Before taking their last breath, the supporter was treated at the Harjolukito Hospital in Yogyakarta due to a fracture in his head.
Death in Indonesian football matches seems to be a difficult hurdle to overcome. According to the football monitoring group, Save Our Soccer (S0S), 78 people are recorded dead in football matches since the inaugural edition of the Indonesian League Main Division 1994-1995, before the incident in Kanjuruhan.
The Kanjuruhan tragedy with 125 people dead in Malang is one of the deadliest incidents not only in an Indonesian football match but also in the world. Hopefully, the Kanjuruhan tragedy will be the last of the chains of tragedy regarding Indonesian soccer matches.
