Indonesia is moving fast forward in its dealing with the disaster that struck a stadium where a stampede caused the death of 130 football fans as it plans to demolish the stadium.
But a hasty demolition will not heal the hearts of the people who are still suffering the loss of their children in particular.
However, the demolition is part of a process to ‘thoroughly transform’ soccer in Indonesia, says the country’s President.
He says the demolition will proceed for the rebuilding of the football stadium where the current one stands and where the stampede that killed so many young kids has shocked the nation. Indonesia is a football-mad nation.
Jokowi, the popular name for the President, met with Mr Gianni Infantino, head of world football governing body Fifa and spoke to the media on plans to rebuild the stadium.
“Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang… We will demolish it and rebuild according to Fifa standards,” he said.
The deadly stampede after a league match in the city of Malang on Oct 1 has been blamed on police firing tear gas in the stadium.
Fifa has banned such crowd control measures during soccer matches, let alone the use of tear gas in stadiums.
A fact-finding team tasked with investigating the stampede has concluded that tear gas was the main cause of death in one of the world’s worst stadium disasters.
This was reported by the country’s security minister on Friday last week.
The team, which included government officials, soccer and security experts, has been investigating how more than 130 people died in a crush after the match on October 1.
Coordinating Security Minister Mahfud MD said other investigations that are ongoing could not “diminish the conclusion that the massive (number of) deaths was mainly caused by tear gas.”
Indonesian Prime Minister agrees with the changes
According to the media, Jokowi agrees with Mr Infantino on significant changes to how the sport was managed in Indonesia.
For Infantino, Fifa’s role is to ensure the security for both the players and the fans.
“This is a football country, a country where football is a passion for over 100 million people,” he said. “We owe it to them that when they see a match, they are safe and secure.”
This story is a follow up for this article.