Indonesian recalls stinging tear gas in deadly soccer melee
Riot police officers stand guard around the area where a deadly football brawl erupted on Monday in South Jakarta. (Photo: AP)
This article is more than 5 years old
This article is more than 5 years old
Indonesians awoke Monday morning to the news they would not be allowed to watch the match they were watching.
Riot police officers stood guard around the area where a deadly football brawl erupted on a night that left four people dead.
Thousands of protesters, many waving the flags of the two rival teams who had clashed the night before, filled the streets of the capital, Jakarta, clashing with officers and throwing rocks and shoes at them. One woman was pulled away from the crowd and beaten on the ground by the police as the rioters chanted: “Shame on you!”
The protest spread to four cities in the Indonesian capital, where a day of clashes between supporters of two teams had led to death and hundreds injured.
Indonesian police said the crowd was angry because their team was not given a point after they had scored in a game against the Jakarta Pirates that ended in a 1-1 draw.
“The crowd became angry because they were not given a point after they scored a goal,” said Cipa Dewi Sinta of the police’s department, referring to the Pirates. “This is a huge misunderstanding as we did not give them a point.”
The violence follows clashes between supporters of the Jakarta derby rivals, Persebaya and Central Java United, at the weekend that left 12 people injured, including two policemen.
In a statement, the Jakarta police said the crowd had been protesting since the derby had been played without incident and that the clashes had been sparked by the violence on Sunday night. It said the game was over and the derby had been called off.
“It is not the first time that fans have caused trouble at football matches and it happened in the past, too,” the statement said. “Fans are just having fun, but we have to be careful.”
A number of other protests were also reported in the capital on Monday.
