Black day for football world – disaster in Kanjuruhan Stadium: A disaster with announcement – sport

The tragedy in the Indonesian league in the duel between Malang and Surabaya comes as no surprise to those in the know.

It should have been the weekend of the big games in the Indonesian league: On Saturday, Arema Malang and Persebaya Surabaya played the derby in East Java against each other before two other giants, Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta, would face each other in the “classic” on Sunday. Instead, the first encounter between two arch-rivals ended in chaos and tragedy.

In order to better understand how the “Kanjuruhan Disaster” came about, three topics should be examined more closely as partial aspects of the stadium disaster:

Suboptimal infrastructure

The design of Indonesian stadiums becomes a versatile multiplier in the event of a stampede. In addition to too narrow and too few entrances, there is a lack of capacity restrictions and sector separations as well as security elements such as breakwaters to control the crowd. In addition, there are high fences with wire mesh, which make it impossible to evacuate quickly to the playing field.

An uncoordinated admission procedure and a pronounced black market also contribute to confusing situations. In the case of the Kanjuruhan stadium, the free spaces in front of the stadium suitable for evacuation are also occupied because the stadium is in the small town of Kepanj and a large proportion of the fans make their own way from nearby Malang and park their means of transport directly at the stadium.

Lack of coordination of security forces

In addition to the police, the military (TMI) and private security forces are also responsible for protecting everyone present in Indonesian stadiums. The coordination between these 3 institutions is mostly suboptimal and passive. The main focus is on protecting players and officials.

In the case of the match between Arema and Persebaya, the police in the stadium also resorted to the use of tear gas, which is prohibited according to Fifa regulations. Videos from eyewitnesses can also be seen how those cartridges were sometimes fired into the filled stands, which have limited freedom of movement.

Incredible momentum in the stands

Due to a lack of surveillance infrastructure and a poorly coordinated executive, people who riot in Indonesian stadiums rarely face legal prosecution.

Many representatives of the population class present are still shaped by images of earlier generations who had to endure the reigns of terror under the dictators Sukarno and Suharto. Trust in the state organs is correspondingly low and anti-authoritarian attitudes are widespread.