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.
Source: Antara News