By: Vansh Chojar, Junior College 1 Teamwork

October 1, 2022– the soccer world came to a shock as a stampede after a soccer match in in Malang killed 170+ people and injured more than 300 people, the most deaths caused by a football match since 24 May 1964 in Peru where more than 300 people died and 500+ people were injured. 

This all started when a football club named Arema F.C. lost to the club rival, Persebaya for the first time in 20 years, 3-2.

Image credit: Arema F.C. Source: Bola.com

Image Credit: Persebaya Surabaya, Source: Bola.com

According to national news, the fans, shocked and frustrated by the loss, jumped into the soccer field to ‘question’ the Arema players. This caused a clash between the police and the fans which escalated to forcing the police to use tear gas which created even more chaos which was one of the main reasons for that many deaths. 

The footballing world has paid tribute to those fans who died. Big clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester City, and many more gave 1-2minute silence for them. The Indonesian government had decided to suspend the league for one week.

Image credit: Real Madrid’s 1 Minute Silence, Source: Sports Brief

So, who is at fault? After reading many articles and watching several news articles about the tragedy, I felt that the Arema Club was at fault as it allowed more fans than what the stadium could hold. The capacity of the stadium is only 38,000, but on that day, the crowd inside the stadium was 42,000, showing that the club cared more about money than their fans, as well as their security. 

Secondly, the ventilation of the stadium was not good either which caused the fans to suffocate especially when tear gas was used by the authorities inside the venue. I also feel the government deserves some of the blame as they should have added more security/police to prevent the fans from entering the field and they should have strictly prohibited the police from using weapons such as tear gas as it’s against the law to throw a tear gas inside a stadium. 

In conclusion, this could not have happened if the ticketing staff and the security had made the right choices. The government should make stricter laws where sports Clubs that allow live audience or more fans than the stadium’s capacity or if they don’t have enough ventilation in the stadium, they should be fined heavily or banned and the government should take a stricter action on Arema FC to warn the other Clubs to be fully aware of their responsibilities because such incidents can lead to so many deaths and even international embarrassment for the nation. The government should also see to it that sporting facilities are monitored, secured, and improved for a safer environment.

Sources: 

• https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2022/10/02/death-toll-in-football-stampede-reaches-174-league-suspended.html
• https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27540668 
• Bola.com
• Sports Brief   

Below are the views of my classmates on the issue:

ON WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO: 

I think that in order to prevent these tragedies from happening again, the government needs to have a stricter law regarding riots in football matches. If anyone starts riots or other acts of that sort, they should be charged or punished accordingly. Indonesia’s football fans are very passionate about their preferred teams. Sometimes, they are quite aggressive, leading to riots causing serious injuries and sometimes death. On what happened last October 1^st, I think that both sides were at fault: the fans who caused the riots and the government because of the way they responded to the situation. – Azarine

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2022/10/05/jokowi-to-order-stadium-audit-after-deadly-stampede.html 

The government and the event organizers were responsible for all the damages done. The stadium had already exceeded its maximum capacity of 39000- holding about 42000 fans, with that the event organizers should have responsibly sold tickets and thought of safety instead of profitability. However, match spectators also acted irresponsibly, exerting excessive violence. I hope this incident guides not only the government but also the many spectators to a point of realization. – Louise Denissa

ON THE RESPONSE OF THE POLICE: 

In cases of riots, the use of deadly tear gas must be prohibited. I think that it is the equal fault of the fans and the police: the fans should not take a loss too seriously to the point that it could lead to a deadly riot. For the police, they should have done an alternative way to stop the riot, preventing injuries and deaths. Moreover, the government should encourage the fans to learn that a loss of a soccer match should not lead to inner rage and the government should create rules that riots, fights, or any bullying or physical harm should be banned during any event. -Chloe 

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/football/indonesia-to-probe-football-stampede-police-use-of-tear-gas-in-focus-6091693.html

I believe that both the Arema FC and the local police force, indirectly, the government’s efforts to disperse the raging crowd are to be at fault. This riot caused the death of 170+ people, and another 180 injured. I could speculate that the police force wasn’t entirely prepared for such an incident and it caused them to use tear gas in desperation to disperse the crowd. It suffocated the majority of the crowd, causing many to panic and attempted to escape but were caught in the stampede. -Bryant

I think that there should be a solution to this, not by using tear gas as it is harmful and toxic for the people there but by a safe way to promote safety in the stadium. If this were to happen again, I think that the police should focus more on evacuating the people inside the stadium instead of forcefully making them stop the riot which can lead to another crush and cases of suffocation if they use the teargas again. The police are tasked to ensure safety among the citizens so I think that they should prioritize that first to prevent this from happening again. -Claire

The government should put more security measures next time and they should take more attention when the matches are particularly competitive. This is also bad publicity for the country as a whole. It’s astonishing that more than 170 people died in just a football rivalry. The government and the Clubs should publicly push the idea of their failures and should speak out against it to at least create awareness of the dangers of their behaviors. -Joe

I believe that the way things were handled was wrong and inappropriate: both the fans, who ran towards the field after their home team lost to question the players and the police, who used tear gas in a poorly ventilated stadium without any warning, were to be held liable. This shows that there was no understanding and unity between the team and their fans as the latter were enraged because of the loss of the team after winning continuously for 20 years and took the matter in their own hands. The death could have been prevented if there were more evacuation exits and a better ventilation system, and if the police had helped people in evacuating instead of abruptly using tear gas and dismissing them in an unorganized and violent way. -Kannan

I think the police shouldn’t have used tear gas even though it was such chaos, but at the same time, we couldn’t fully blame the police as they had to take immediate action. Indonesian fans have always been known to be one of the most toxic and vandal-like when it comes to their team losing. People need to be respectful if they lose or win. Indonesia needs to step up in educating fans strictly on how to respect sports. Their actions might be caused due to betting on which team would win. I think the police should have asked for reinforcements rather than using gas canisters and creating panic, leading to stampede…This incident is truly heartbreaking, not only did they take innocent lives but they also made Indonesia look bad in the eyes of other countries. My condolences to the families of those affected. -Natalia

Firstly, the police should have thought about the consequences of releasing the tear gas. They may have thought it would calm the crowd down or stop them from further actions, but instead, it was the opposite that happened. It led to chaos and stampede. The host should have also thought ahead: why was there only one available exit for such a very big crowd? – Kensya

ON THE ROLE OF THE FOOTBALL FEDERATION OF INDONESIA:

I was very shocked and saddened to see how innocent people died during the riot that happened in the stadium. I hope these things won’t happen again not only in the game of football but also in other sports and I hope the Football Federation of Indonesia would be making improvements in stadiums around Indonesia for safety. – Kevin

When mass panic occurs in a crowded, confined space, behavior becomes completely uncontrollable. The cause was that the Club let a crowd that exceeded the capacity of the stadium enter, and that the police lost control of the exit. I think there was a sloppy safety management system, such as Club officials not complying with safety requirements. The spectators should also act properly and must learn the essence of sportsmanship. -Yuki

ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE FANS:

I think it was the fans’ fault because they didn’t want to accept why their team lost. They should not go to the field to interact and ask the players why they lost. It was also the stadium’s fault as there were too many tickets sold than the number the stadium can hold. Additionally, there was only one available exit for the fans, including children, elderly, and others to escape which made some fans suffocate or be crushed in the stampede. The government should limit the number of fans who are watching sporting activities live. – Nathanael Winston

Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/182612/125-dead-in-indonesia-stadium-stampede

The stadium, itself, should have better and bigger venues with bigger exits and better air ventilation. I think the Arema fans were to be blamed because they were attacking the police. They should have acted less aggressive and accepted their team’s defeat. -Nathanael Reiner

ON THE READINESS & CONDITION OF THE VENUE:

This issue/ problem could have been avoided. It came to be because of poor preparation of the event by the officials. Stricter security should have been enforced, and the staff should have been taught how to handle the issue as quickly and efficiently as possible. The stadium did not seem prepared to face the problem. In future football matches – or any other sports matches- there should be proper preparation beforehand. -Valerie

I think that the football tragedy on October 1, the persons who built and designed the stadium were to be blamed (or the officials who gave the construction permit). Why must the stadium only have 1 pen exit? Even though there would be no riot, people could still be injured after the match because of a cramped spot and lack of exit doors. -Fernando

There were many flaws in the stadium which caused the deaths of many people. There should have been a transparent barrier that will not affect the show for the audiences but also to prevent the fans and spectators from jumping off into the field, creating chaos. Since the police officers used tear gas as a weapon to stop the riot, many did not have time to escape since there were only a few emergency exits and the size of the emergency exit was too small which resulted in the stampede. Police officers should have used weapons which would not kill people. The authorities also needed to be involved and responsible for it was the chief police and government since the fans, spectators and supporters also killed 2 of their fellow officers and lastly, the whole club of Arema FC including the fans needed to be banned and punished from any competition for the meantime. -Jeff Gao

I think the one who should be blamed mostly is the Club itself. It is impossible for the government to monitor each match held to make sure everything runs smoothly. However, there are still many things the government can do to prevent this from happening again such as designing a better architecture for the stadium, and to ensure that there is good ventilation and a proper size of exit gate. On the other hand, the club should keep reminding the fans that winning or losing doesn’t really matter, they should try to keep promoting the solidarity between the two teams and that they have done their best, and show sportsmanship towards losing. – Sidney 

ON THE IMPACT OF THIS TRAGEDY TO FUTURE MATCHES: 

I think this incident will affect the next matches to be held at that stadium. In the next match, there would be less people who would watch the soccer match due to the fear of this happening again. This also means the Indonesian fans are not afraid of the police and the laws. The police are supposed to be a higher authority for us, citizens, as they are agents of the government but why were the fans not afraid of them? What can the police and the government do to make it clear that they are the higher authorities? The next matches should have more security and the fans should behave themselves. I think it was the fans who were at fault as they should not have caused a riot and go down the field as it might affect the innocent ones. –Eugenia

I personally think that in order to reduce the chaos and the riot that may occur in the next season, reducing the number of fans entering the venue could be an idea to avoid disruption that may occur if the losing teams would turn. With this, they could reduce the possibility of chaos and deaths like what occurred in Malang on the 1^st October 2022. -Jesslyn