Indonesian stadium tragedy highlights issue in police use of tear gas
The Jakarta PostOct 20, 2022
An Indonesian court began a trial on Monday of three police officers, a security official, and a match organizer charged with negligence over their alleged roles in a deadly soccer stadium stampede that claimed the lives of 135 people last October
They could face a maximum prison sentence of five years if convicted over the disaster at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java, which reportedly occurred after police fired tear gas to disperse fans who flooded the pitch after the home team lost to their rival.
Soccer riots are relatively common in Indonesia, and this tragedy highlights the problems with the use of tear gas by Indonesian police — which has played a role in many stadium disasters in the nation's history. It's baffling that the police claim they didn't know that tear gas was banned by FIFA. The entire tragedy can be blamed upon years of mismanagement and corruption at the heart of Indonesian soccer.
Indonesian soccer seems to be driven by hooliganism, and it must be remembered that the disaster began after the home team was beaten. While police and management of Indonesian soccer must be held accountable, we must also hope that the disaster will be a long-overdue wake-up call to stand up against hooligan culture and crowd violence.