Football is a beautiful game but when it involves huge crowds, there can be disasters and lives could be lost in the mismanagement of the situation.
The history of football is littered with dangerous moments when people lost their lives either through mobs attacking each other inside stadiums or an infrastructure disaster that could have been avoided.
And Indonesia has now joined the list of terrible disasters that have tainted not only the name of football, but also the country’s organisation of large-scale events.
Delays in unlocking the Kanjuruhan Stadium gates after violence erupted at the end of a football match, according to Indonesia’s national football association, contributed to a crowd crush in which at least 131 people died.
The Football Association of Indonesia announced a permanent ban on the host team’s chief executive and security coordinator for failing to secure the field or promptly issue a command to unlock the gates.
Now, mothers and fathers are up in arms against the country’s soccer association and the authorities, claiming justice for their dead children.
Arema FC fans stormed the pitch after their team lost 2-3.
There are videos showing them throwing bottles and blunt objects at each other.
The first round of tear gas was fired by police, causing mass panic as people fled for the exits. Many people were killed or suffocated in the ensuing stampede.
The parents and the public in general are asking how this could have happened and why did their children die so abruptly.
While answers will come soon, this disaster adds to other such incidents that took place in or around a soccer stadium.
The list of other stadium disasters
The Heysel Disaster
On May 1985, in Belgium, thirty-nine fans died and more than 600 were injured in fan violence before the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium. Link to the video.
It is one of the most talked about stadium disasters in the history of soccer. It is always used as a reference when people speak about fan wars during cup finals.
Hillsborough, Sheffield
The Hillsborough disaster is another of the most well-known stadium disasters. Link to the Video.
On April 15, 1989, 96 Liverpool football fans were killed when they went to watch their team play against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Semi Final in the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
The stadium was packed with 50,000 people. Over 3,000 fans were crammed into a standing-room-only area with a safe capacity of only 1,600 people.
Police opened an exit gate and people rushed inside to relieve a bottleneck of Liverpool fans trying to enter the venue before kickoff.
Nepal, March 1988
In a hailstorm, a stampede towards locked exits at Nepal’s national soccer stadium in Kathmandu killed more than 90 fans.
Guatemala, October 1996
An avalanche of fans fell down seats and a flight of stairs at a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City, killing up to 82 people and injuring at least 147.
Egypt, February 2012
Fans rioted at the conclusion of a match between rivals Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in Port Said. The Egyptian league was suspended for two years after at least 73 people were killed and over 1,000 were injured.
More on stadium disasters can be found here.