Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that based on the audit of football stadiums conducted by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, five out of the 22 audited stadiums were declared severely damaged.The audit was conducted on 22 stadiums, with a capacity of 20 thousand spectators or more, and pose a high risk for the implementation of League 1, League 2, and the 2023 U-20 World Cup as a response to the stampede tragedy at Kanjuruhan Stadium in October 2022.

“From the results of audit and evaluation stated by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, there are five stadiums that are severely damaged,” the president noted in a statement aired on the official YouTube channel of the Presidential Secretariat on Friday.

The president remarked that of the five severely-damaged stadiums, four needed to be rehabilitated, and one stadium had to be demolished.

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Jokowi revealed the results of the audit during the monitoring of the location for the construction of the national football training center in the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, along with leaders of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).

The president also noted that based on the ministry’s audit, 13 stadiums are declared to have been moderately damaged and had to be renovated, while the other four stadiums are categorized as lightly damaged and only needed minor renovation.

The president stated that the Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang District, East Java, where the stampede tragedy occurred in which at least 135 people were killed on October 1, 2022, would be totally rehabilitated.

“Especially for Kanjuruhan Stadium, it is still in the redesigning process for total rehabilitation,” he remarked.

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Source: Antara News Agency