Fans rioted and stampede at a football match in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, on the 1st, with more than 100 casualties and possibly the deadliest sports violence in the history of Indonesian sports.

(Reuters)

[Central News Agency] 125 people died in a riot at a football match in Indonesia last night.

Experts say football is one of the most popular sports in Indonesia, and fans are loyal and emotionally charged, but the frenzy often leads to games that end in violence, mainly due to the lack of management of the stadium and the team.

According to the statistics of Save Our Soccer, an Indonesian football watchdog group, since 1995, at least 86 football fans have died due to fights on and off the pitch.

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There was also a rioting push at Bandung Stadium in June for the 2022 Presidents Cup, when many angry fans rioted as officials barred them from entering the overcrowded stadium, resulting in the death of two fans .

The most well-known is the clash between Persija Jakarta and Persib Bandung in the Indonesian Super League. Supporters of the two teams clashed in several games, resulting in casualties.

In 2018, a supporter of the Pescha Jakarta team was beaten to death by fans of the enemy team.

Suryopratomo, Indonesia's ambassador to Singapore, a former sports reporter, explained to the Central News Agency that football has long been a belief among Indonesians, and people are so crazy about football that they can't always accept that the team they support loses.

He said: "Especially this clash at the Malang City Stadium, where the two teams have been competing for many years. Several years ago, the leaders of the fans of the two sides had a face-to-face communication to discuss how to avoid violence between the opposing fans, but unfortunately it still happened. ”

Suyo Padmo pointed out that the biggest reason for the frequent violent conflicts in Indonesian football matches is the lack of adequate management of the stadium.

He explained to the Central News Agency that many stadiums in Indonesia do not have enough seats to meet the needs of fans. In addition, "Indonesia lacks professional organizers to manage fans, so military and police are often dispatched to manage spectators, but they have never received relevant training."

Justinus Lhaksana, the former coach of the Indonesian national futsal team, made a similar point, pointing out to the Central News Agency that the frequent clashes among Indonesian fans were due to a lack of education, inadequate security at the stadium, and "a lot of Indonesian organizations. The football team is only for the huge profits or fame brought by the competition, not the love of sports, so it is not careful in management.”

In fact, on the international stage, Indonesian fans are often violent with other fans for supporting the team.

During the 2019 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, when Indonesia faced arch-rival Malaysia, fans of both sides clashed several times.

Malaysians fans were threatened and objects were thrown at a match in Jakarta in September that year, while the Malaysian sports minister, who was in Indonesia to watch the game, was forced to evacuate the stadium after the violence.

Two months later, at another match in Kuala Lumpur, fans on both sides threw glow sticks and bottles at each other.

Also in 2019, after Indonesia lost to Vietnam in the final of the SEA Games U-22 football match, Indonesian fans harassed, repented and even issued death threats to Vietnamese players and their families on social media.

Yesterday's riot at the Malang City Stadium killed 125 people, possibly the deadliest incident of sports violence in Indonesian sports history.