Indonesian sports minister apologises for football violence

PETALING JAYA: Indonesian Sports and Youth Minister Imam Nahrawi has apologised for the violent incidents that arose during the World Cup qualifying match between Indonesia and Malaysia last night.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman posted an Instagram Story on his personal account, saying that Imam met with him to apologise and express his regrets over the violence.

What was supposed to be a sweet victory for Malaysians who witnessed Harimau Malaya beating Indonesia 3-2 in their World Cup qualifying match quickly turned sour at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Thursday (Sept 5) night.

The match was marred by crowd trouble and had to be stopped for 10 minutes until police intervened during the second half, and things took a turn for the worse for Malaysian fans as the game ended.

“Several Indonesian fans also tried to ram the Malaysian area and the match had to be stopped temporarily, ” Syed Saddiq posted on Twitter at the time.

Metal objects, bottles, flares, among others, were thrown at Malaysian fans.

It was also confirmed that at least one Malaysian was injured during the incident.

Syed Saddiq and his entourage were placed in quarantine within the stadium before they could leave safely.

He added that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) would be filing a formal complaint to FIFA with regards to the violence.