JAKARTA: The police in Papua have detained 14 people following a riot at Lukas Enembe Stadium in Harapan village, Jayapura regency, as the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) is still under supervision and monitoring from the world’s governing soccer body FIFA for the deadly 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium stampede in Malang regency, East Java.
The riot started after host Perspira Jayapura lost 1-0 to guest PS Adhyaksa Banten in a Liga 2 Indonesia playoff soccer match on Friday (May 8).
Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Cahyo Sukarnito said that the 14 people were being questioned by Jayapura Police in Doyo, Jayapura regency.
“They are being detained to ensure their involvement in the riot,” he said in Jayapura city on Saturday, as quoted by Antara news agency. “From reports we have received, 67 vehicles and four cars were damaged, lost and burned.”
“One officer from Jayapura Police, Second Insp. Arjuna is currently being treated at Bhayangkara Police Hospital in Jayapura city for his injuries,” he said.
Cahyo said he could not yet estimate the losses caused by the riot because the values were being investigated and registered.
“Police officers are still taking data to find out the losses of damages caused by the riot around Lukas Enembe Stadium,” he said.
Persipura Jayapura is a professional soccer team based in Mandala Stadium in neighbouring Jayapura city. Lukas Enembe Stadium serves as the team’s alternate stadium.
The team currently sits in Liga 2 and plays in the Pegadaian Championship. Friday’s loss from Adhyaksa, which is based in Kelapa Dua district, Tangerang regency, Banten, meant Persipura remains in Liga 2 and failed the promotion to Liga 1 to play in the top BRI Indonesian Super League.
Previously, Persipura topped the most prestigious league in Indonesia, in its various forms and names, in 2005, 2008-2009, 2010-2011 and 2013 seasons.
The riot started after the match ended at about 7 p.m. local time (5 p.m. Jakarta time) on Friday. During the match, spectators expressed their dissatisfaction with various decisions made by main referee Asker Nadjfalief from Uzbekistan on the pitch, according to Kompas.id.
Spectators were throwing bottles of mineral water on the pitch during the match. The referee stopped the match for several minutes.
Spectators were getting more agitated after Nadjfalief blew the final whistle, and they threw more bottled mineral water and other objects onto the pitch.
Some spectators also lit up flares and threw firecrackers onto the pitch. Security personnel had to use their shields to protect Adhyaksa players and referees while they exited the pitch into the dressing room.
Some spectators invaded the pitch and kept the Persipura players’ spirit high, but other spectators started to damage various facilities such as benches for players as well as breaking glass on the players’ tunnel.
After about one hour, police officers managed to repel the spectators’ pitch invasion but a riot outside persisted.
The mob burned several vehicles parked around the stadium, including those belonging to Jayapura Police and the Papua Police Mobile Brigade Unit, Cahyo said.
The riots forced a post-match press conference to be scrapped and players from both teams and match officials to barricade themselves inside the stadium. They were seen exiting the stadium at about 11 p.m. local time.
FIFA supervision
Meanwhile, PSSI lamented the riot as the association is still under FIFA’s monitoring after the deadly Kanjuruhan stampede during a match between Arema FC and archrival Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium, East Java, on Oct. 1, 2022.
An investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) found the main cause of the stampede was the firing of 45 rounds of tear gas into the crowd by the police after several fans invaded the pitch.
Hundreds of people fled for the stadium's small exits, but some of them were closed, resulting in a crush that left many trampled or suffocating to death.
The head of the organising committee, the stadium security head and two officers from the Malang Police and an officer from East Java Police were later found guilty of negligence in court. They were sentenced to between one year and two and a half years in prison.
“The riot in Jayapura smears our soccer journey, which is still being monitored and supervised by FIFA,” PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi said in Jakarta on Saturday.
The deadliest soccer incident in Asia, with 135 spectators dying of suffocation, made FIFA force reforms on PSSI, including a change of leadership from Mochamad Iriawan to the then state-owned enterprises minister Erick Thohir in 2023.
Erick is currently Youth Affairs and Sports Minister after he was ousted from his SOEs post with the establishment of state asset fund Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara). - The Jakarta Post/ANN
