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Violence at football matches is not uncommon in Indonesia, and supporters of the visiting Persebaya Surabaya team had not been allowed to buy tickets to the game, due to fears of clashes between the rival fans.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has suspended all games in the Indonesian top football league Liga 1, and ordered an investigation into the tragedy.
STADIUM AND SAFETY REGULATIONS
Multiple past stadium disasters have been caused in part by dated arenas that did not have the safety measures implemented by newer stadiums that adhere to sports bodies’ regulations, Professor David Shilbury told CNA’s Asia Now.
“Old dated stadiums with lots of standing room and crowds packed in like sardines – that’s one of the things that’s changed in more recent times, where the design of modern stadiums is to have seated-only and no standing room agreement in terms of occupational health and safety measures,” said Prof Shilbury, chair of Sport Management at the Deakin Business School.
Prof Shilbury said that there are generic measures in stadium construction and building, and standards that FIFA and continental associations hold stadiums to in terms of formal, international, and continental matches.
With Indonesia getting ready to host next year’s Under-20 World Cup, its stadiums will likely be closely scrutinised by FIFA, especially following the weekend’s tragedy, said Prof Westerbeek.
“I think FIFA will be nervous about the work that has to be done in order to safeguard old stadiums,” he said.
“You can be sure that FIFA will apply very high scrutiny to the standards upon which the stadiums will be provided for that (U-20) global tournament that will be hosted by Indonesia.”
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