Jokowi Speaks with FIFA about Kanjuruhan Football Tragedy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s President Joko Jokowi Widodo claimed he had spoken with the world football governing body FIFA President Gianni Infantino to discuss the Kanjuruhan football stadium tragedy on Monday night, October 3, 2022.

As widely reported, a tragedy that is deemed one of the world’s deadliest stadium disasters and killed at least 131 people occurred on Saturday, October 1, after the professional match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya.

“(We) talked a lot about the tragedy at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, Malang,” said the President at a press conference after the 77th Indonesian Military Anniversary at Jakarta Merdeka Palace, Wednesday, October 5, 2022.

He also claimed to have talked about the FIFA U-20 World Cup which is slated to be held next year in Indonesia. Many suspected that FIFA will sanction Indonesia due to the football tragedy.

The President, however, did not detail whether or not they talked about sanctions for Indonesia. “Any decision is at FIFA's discretion,” he remarked.

The state head had ordered the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to investigate the tragedy thoroughly on Sunday and urged Youth and Sports Minister Zainuddin Amali and PSSI chair Mochamad Iriawan to thoroughly evaluate the football game and security procedures.

Jokowi also instructed PSSI to temporarily suspend Liga 1, “until evaluation and improvement of security procedures are carried out.”

The government had also formed an Independent Joint Fact Finding Team for the Kanjuruhan tragedy led by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md.

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