The whole world got shocked as close to 180 people died in the stampede at a football stadium in Indonesia. This is the worst tragedy in the history of sports, bringing disrepute to not just Indonesia but soccer (football game).
The gruesome incident occurred at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java in Indonesia country. Two bitter rival football teams Persebaya Surabaya and Arema FC played the game on Saturday, (Oct 1). When Arema lost to Persebaya Surabaya, fans of the defeated team stormed into the stadium and tried to attack players and officials. To control it, police resorted to lathicharge and opened tear gas. This eventually led to a stampede.
While the use of tear gas is prohibited according to FIFA rules, Indonesian police said that they have resorted to such step only as a final resort after fans became uncontrollable and lives of players, officials and police were in danger. FIFA observed this extremely unfortunate incident as a ‘dark day for game of Soccer’.