The National Police have agreed to improve security arrangements at football matches by aligning them with the statutes of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali made the remarks at the Presidential Palace complex here on Friday.
“All FIFA and PSSI regulations will be integrated with police regulations, particularly in the (football match) security matter,” the minister said.
The commitment was made by the police during a coordination meeting on Thursday (October 6, 2022), and the meeting’s resolutions were reported to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Friday, he said.
“The police will issue a new regulation which would align with FIFA and PSSI regulations,” the minister disclosed.
The improvement in security arrangements was one of the resolutions agreed upon during the evaluation of the stampede at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, last Saturday (October 1), which claimed 131 lives.
During Thursday’s meeting, the police’s Mobile Brigade Corps deputy commander, Inspector General Setyo Boedi Moempuni Harso, affirmed that the police have deliberated with the PSSI to conceive a new regulation on security arrangements for football matches.
The current standard operating procedure (SOP) used by the police to secure football matches is not aligned with FIFA and PSSI regulations, he said.
“There is a standard operating procedure, yet it is not synchronized with the relevant (FIFA and PSSI) regulations. We indeed must align the regulation because there have been SOPs for demonstrations and out-of-stadium (security) arrangements, which is particular,” he added.
To investigate the tragedy, the government formed a joint independent fact-finding team on Monday (October 3).
The team is being chaired by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, with Minister Amali serving as the team’s deputy head and former deputy attorney general Nur Rochmad as the secretary.
Source: Antara News