Category: Asia Pacific

In Indonesia, football fan culture is vibrant, and its rivalries intense. Animosity between opposing teams is so strong that away fans are generally banned from attending games, as was the case at the time of the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster, when only home Arema supporters were allowed tickets.

Rivalries have descended into violence in the past. Before the Kanjuruhan disaster, 78 people had died in football-related accidents over the last 28 years, according to government figures. It is common for away players to be escorted to and from matches by armoured vehicles.

Yet the disaster that claimed the lives of 131 people in Malang regency, East Java, this month, has prompted – for now at least – a dialling down in hostilities.

Fans of both Arema and their rivals Persebaya have come together, with members of the latter offering support to those mourning friends and relatives. Voices from both sides want organisers and the police to be held accountable.

There was chaos after a pitch invasion by some Arema fans, which prompted police to fire teargas, including, witnesses say, into the stands without warning. The huge clouds of teargas caused panic, and thousands rushed to escape. It was one of the deadliest sports stadium disasters ever.

The Indonesian government has established a fact-finding mission, and six people are already facing charges over the disaster. Already, questions have been raised: why did police use teargas inside the stadium, contrary to Fifa guidance? Why were 42,000 tickets sold for a stadium that holds a maximum of 38,000 people. Why were only four paramedics on standby inside the stadium?

On Monday, the police admitted the teargas they had used had expired.

Fans from both sides want answers. “Who commanded them to carry the ammunition [teargas]? Who gave the command to shoot into the tribune?” asked Amin Fals, a coordinator of Arema Jalur Gaza in Pasuruan, a group of between 200 and 300 Arema supporters.

The police overdid it, he said. If a fan brought a flare into a stadium they would face sanctions, he added. “I once brought a lighter and it was confiscated. What about teargas? Seems like they’re ready for war, don’t you think?”

Amin, who has never missed a home game, said that in the past police had used shields, dogs, water cannon and batons as part of their crowd control measures, but he had never seen any use of teargas. He had not experienced police violence himself, but said he had witnessed other supporters being beaten by the police.

Tulus Budi, a supporter of Persebaya, said many people had a role in fostering the climate that led to the recent disaster, from broadcasters, to organisers and league operators.

“Sports journalists also had their hand in this as they wrote triggering articles before the game. What’s their goal? Of course to boost up their print circulation. We can trace this from the menacing titles of the articles,” he said.

He said supporters should also shoulder some blame for chants threatening to kill fans of opposing teams.

In the days after the stadium disaster, many Persebaya fans have expressed solidarity online with Arema supporters, offering condolences and assistance. Andie Peci, an activist Persebaya supporter, tweeted to say he would support “whatever steps and movements Aremania will take in responding to the tragedy in Kanjuruhan”, adding that he was ready to be part of such movements.

Rodrigo, an Arema fan who asked to give one name, said he had been moved by the response of Persebaya supporters.

Just hours before the incident, rival supporters were taunting him. Yet when news of the tragedy spread, he saw his social media timeline filled with tributes to Arema supporters.

Accounts that once argued with him, had turned their profile pictures to images honouring the grief of Arema, he said. “I’m sure things will change drastically.”

Tulus hopes that the disaster will change fan relationships, but he said reform was also needed from team management and football bosses.

For supporters, change would take time, he added. “None of this can be forced. Anything forced is merely ceremonial. Merely temporary.” If the relations were to improve, it would take commitment from both sides, he added. “I always wished I would never pass on hate to those around me, but people have their own choices. We can’t step in someone else’s shoes.”

Amin hopes that in the future supporters will be able to watch a game side by side, in peace. “No more lives should be lost,” he adds.

“After all, we’re still standing under the red and white flag of the country, right? Rivalry has to exist, but limit that to a 90-minute match on the field.”

“If football is more expensive than life, I’d rather have the world go on without football. Even though I love it so much,” Amin said.

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, has visited victims of the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster, vowing to find the “root” of the tragedy as demands for justice grew.

The president said he would order an audit of all football stadiums in the country, saying: “I want to know the root of the problem that caused this tragedy so that we can get the best solution.”

As Widodo visited relatives of the victims and talked to survivors of the tragedy at a hospital, grieving families continued to call for answers.

Late into Tuesday evening, mourners filed into a funeral home in Watugede village, Malang, to pay their respects to Iwan Junaedi, one of the 131 people killed on Saturday. Iwan, 44, was a prominent figure among Arema FC’s passionate fans, known as Aremania, and was well loved within the community. He died, say friends, trying to open a gate to save other fans.

“Until today, I still never thought that Mas Iwan would end up like this. He lost his life supporting his beloved football team. But I’m sure up there he is smiling. Surely because he has fulfilled his promise: to support Arema until his last breath,” said his wife, Eka Wulandari.

As panic spread amid the firing of teargas by police, Iwan prioritised helping others, friends told his wife.

First, he gathered all the members of Curvanord – the organisation of Arema supporters he founded – and ensured they were able to get out of Kanjuruhan safely. They waited, crammed tightly, eyes stinging and weeping, for an hour, before they could finally get outside the stadium.

Iwan rested for half an hour with others in the car park. Then he went back towards gate four alone, determined to help others get out.With his remaining energy, he tried to open the locked gate from the outside.

Half an hour passed, but Iwan had not come back. His group, the Curvanords, went to look for him. The gate was now open; he was lying unconscious on the floor next to it.

Iwan was taken to hospital, but medics were unable to save him.

The Football Association of Indonesia has said on Tuesday that delays in opening the gates – which should be unlocked 10 minutes before the end of a match – contributed to the disaster.

They stayed shut “because of late commands” and officers “had not arrived”, a spokesperson for the association said.

Widodo said on Wednesday that steep stairs inside the stadium also worsened the tragedy.

It is unclear how Iwan died, though his family suspect he was hit by a teargas canister.

His brother, Heri, 55, saw a yellow bruise while bathing his body. “I saw a scar, like a gunshot wound on the [Iwan’s] right upper back. My brother, who works [in the] military, said the wound was [from] a teargas casing,” he said.

Witnesses have previously told the Guardian that no warning was given prior to teargas being used, and that it was fired not only at supporters who had invaded the pitch but also at fans who remained in the stands.

“Deep in my heart I let him go,” said Eka as she swept the tears running through her cheeks. “He has lived his life to the fullest. He has also kept his promise to support Arema until the end of his life,” Eka said.

But the family, she added, want justice and accountability.

“As a victim, I demanded that those responsible for my husband’s death, the father of my children, provide fair compensation,” she said. The disaster must be investigated thoroughly and fully, Eka added: “I have to know who shot my husband with teargas.”

Indonesia’s chief security minister has created a taskforce, made up of academics, officials and journalists, to investigate the disaster. The will complete their work within two to three weeks.

It was midnight when Eka received a phone call saying her husband had died. She thought it was a joke. She had known there was trouble at the stadium that evening, but only half an hour earlier her husband’s friend had called and reassured her that he was safe.

“I only believed the news when I arrived at the Wava Husada hospital, and saw my husband’s body lying on the hospital floor without a bed. My tears broke. My mind and heart got even more clouded when I saw other bodies with pitiful conditions. Some of them had their faces bent inward and were no longer recognisable,” Eka said.

The stadium descended into chaos when officers fired teargas in response to a pitch invasion by fans, creating a deadly crush as fans tried to leave.

A father of three children, Iwan was a homemaker, though he also traded birds and, on match days, would work as a ticket trader.Iwan was an Aremania through and through, said friends. Amin Fals, 55, an old friend of Iwan, remembers how, as a child, Iwan often wore a white T-shirt with “Arema” handwritten on it every time the team competed. He had been a proud supporter ever since he was an elementary school student.

“Even when Arema was not yet in the professional league, Iwan had desperately supported Arema. He even hitched on a truck, following Arema wherever they went. I became an Aremania thanks to Iwan’s influence,” recalls Amin, adding that Iwan was also a loyal and protective friend.