NEVER AGAIN
Both Vilallah and Syaila have watched live matches of Arema FC multiple times.
But Saturday’s disaster is the worst they both have witnessed.
After the match, thousands of angry fans stormed the football pitch and police fired with tear gas into the crowd, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation, East Java police chief Nico Afinta told reporters.
At least 125 people died, including a 5-year-old child, while about 320 people were injured.
“People were running to the pitch when Arema lost but why did they fire tear gas everywhere? I was at the tribune, why was there also tear gas at the tribune?” said Vilallah.
“I personally will never watch a game at a stadium again. Because it is very dangerous.”
Vilallah and Syaila have urged authorities to stop football riots from happening in Indonesia once and for all, adding that they also hope the organisers and the police will be held accountable.
Speaking on Sunday morning, President Joko Widodo said authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches and said that it should be “the last soccer tragedy in the nation”.
Jokowi, as the president is known, also ordered the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) to suspend all games in the Indonesian top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed.
Football’s world governing body FIFA specifies in its safety regulations that no firearms or “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or the police.
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