Indonesian football stadium tragedy: how does this still happen?

The Indonesian football stadium tragedy this weekend, in which at least 125 fans died – some in the arms of players, according to a coach – should never be allowed to happen again.

South Africa, too, has suffered such tragedies, with 43 people dying in 2001 at the Ellis Park Stadium tragedy in our worst sporting disaster after fans were crushed during an Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs match.

Ten years previously, at the Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney, 40 people lost their lives. We’ve had far too many such tragedies at football stadiums, so the question remains: how does this still happen?

Fifa’s safety guidelines clearly prohibit the use of crowd control gas by police or stewards at pitch side, but that’s exactly what happened in Indonesia.

On Saturday night in Marang, police fired teargas when fans of hosts Arema FC stormed the pitch at the Kanjuruhan Stadium after their loss to rivals Persebaya Surabaya. The tragedy left at least 125 people dead – including 32 children – and more than 300 injured.

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The local police have plenty to answer for and the future hosting of international events in the country now is in jeopardy, with Indonesia keen on hosting the Asian Cup football and even the Olympics in the future. They are already down to host the Fifa Under-20 World Cup next year.

It’s heartbreaking to hear witness accounts of how they saw loved ones die in front of them and it brings tears to the eyes when we hear how close some people were to suffering the same fate.

The authorities have wasted no time in taking action, with the local city police chief sacked and nine police officers suspended pending an investigation. But is that enough?

What should have been a joyous occasion has ended in heartbreak. Hopefully, other countries will learn from this and measures will be put in place to avoid such an incident from happening again. But history suggests otherwise…