Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo has given directives for the audit of all football stadiums in Indonesia to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy in Kanjuruhan.
"I also order to audit the total of all stadiums used for the league, both League 1, League 2, and League 3, all of them (to check) whether the gates are according to the standard (that being) wide enough, whether the gates are of the standard size, the management of the field: who is in control, everything," the president stated at the Dr Saiful Anwar Regional General Hospital, Malang City, on Wednesday.
President Widodo and First Lady Iriana visited the hospital to check the condition of the Kanjuruhan tragedy survivors.
"From this incident, we have to improve all match management, field management, and stadium management. We all have to have a total audit. We do not want an event like this in Kanjuruhan to happen again in our country," he remarked.
President Jokowi tasked the Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono with auditing the stadiums.
"I have ordered the public works minister to conduct an audit of the stadium building, including the entire buildings, stadiums used in league 1, 2, 3 to repair the doors, gates, and then the position of the building, fences, and others, so that the safety of the audience (is ensured). The safety of the supporters is what we want to prioritize," he added.
President Jokowi also visited the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang District to get an idea of the layout of the stadium that had a capacity of around 35 thousand spectators.
"Later, the Joint Fact-Finding Team will have to look in detail, but as an illustration, I saw earlier that there was a locked door and also a ladder whose (inclination) was too sharp, plus there was panic. However, I only saw the field, later, everything will be concluded by an independent fact-finding team. Once again, the most important thing is that all stadium buildings will be audited by the Public Works Ministry," he explained.
The president has given the ministry one month's time to audit the stadium.
"The stadium audit is the same, one month. (It is) because if we look at the Bung Karno Stadium with (a capacity of) 80 thousand spectators, once the gate is opened, in 15 minutes, everyone can get out. I think we must have these standards," he opined.
The head of state also noted that the International Football Federation (FIFA) had expressed its readiness to help improve governance.
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"When I spoke on Monday by telephone with FIFA President Giovanni Infantino, he said FIFA is ready to help improve the existing management. I think there needs to be a total evaluation of everything, match management, stadium management, audience management, time management, and security management. Everything must be thoroughly evaluated, so that the events that occurred at the Kanjuruhan Stadium do not happen again, and everything is clear," he stated.
The joint independent fact-finding team, led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD, was also tasked with identifying in detail the main causes of the chaos that ensued at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.
"We know that an independent joint fact-finding team has been formed, led by the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs. We expect that this team will soon be able to complete its tasks, so that we know very well the main cause of the tragedy on October 1 at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang," Jokowi remarked.
He highlighted that the joint team would collect facts and all information from various parties and then convey it thoroughly to the public. Teams will share tasks according to their respective fields.
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Jokowi said that each entity had its own tasks, such as the national police, which would list the criminal acts that occurred in the riot, audit by the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, and help the fact-finding team with their investigation. On top of that, the National Football Association would impose sanction, he added.
The Kanjuruhan tragedy unfolded after chaos ensued following the spectators' rage that led them to barge into the stadium. The disaster occurred owing to the result of the Indonesian League 1 match on Saturday evening, October 1, between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya that ended with a score of 2-3.
The chaos, which prompted security personnel to throw tear gas, had claimed at least 125 deaths that had been confirmed.
Governor of East Java Khofifah Indar Parawansa stated that there were an additional six deaths, thereby bringing death toll to 131.
The six fatalities were not recorded by the Police Doctors because after the incident, the identities of the six victims were confirmed by their families, who immediately buried them in the village's public cemetery by the Kanjuruhan Stadium.
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