Sports Communication: The Tragedy of Kanjuruhan and the Future of Indonesian Football
A sad tragedy occurred at the Indonesian football event in Malang. The incident occurred on October 1, 2022. At that time, the Persebaya football club played against the poor Arema Club. At that time when the match was over, it was seen that the fans entered the field. Then step into another. Then suddenly, the police sprayed tear gas. Conditions became rowdy; according to records, as of October 13, 2022, it crashed 754 victims, and 135 died.
Narayana Mahendra Prastya, a UII Communication lecturer, who is also a specialist in the Journalism and Sports Communication and Indonesian Football research cluster, said that, unfortunately, this incident was in the spotlight because there was a big incident. “There were many victims first, then the news spread widely,” said Narayana in a discussion titled “Reflections on the Future of Indonesian Football, ” organized by the Kognisia, the student press of FPSB UII Podcast broadcast on October 31, 2022. Narayana also conducted a brief search regarding this incident.
“I’m just looking for data for fun; since 2010 there have been incidents of using tear gas to disperse riots at stadiums. That violated FIFA rules. So since 2010 there have been violations,” said Narayana. Even though PSSI (Indonesian football federation) understands these rules, said Nara, Narayana’s nickname.
Nara questioned, “So far, PSSI has not been with security. So the SOP for security at the stadium is DO and DONT. It should be communicated.” Why have there been ten incidents, he said this time, but the incident is still repeated. In fact, according to Nara, his search was only for the last ten years. “If I trace it back, I think there will be even more. There have been 11 plus these Kanjuruhan,” said Nara.
Apart from Nara, UII Communications student Khalif Madani was also a speaker at the discussion at this Postcast. Alif, his nickname, is now lined up to be a panelist. Alif is also a member of Campus Boys 1976, the PSS Sleman support community. According to Alif, fans are often referred to as the scapegoats of riots when incidents occur.
In line with Alif, even though not all supporters can be generalized. It was as if the supporters were the sole factor in the riots. On another occasion, Nara also revealed the truth social media should also be highlighted in the occurrence of riots. Apart from that, now many supporters are also the motor of change and the team control.
