When The Oklahoman Teen reports a sporting event, oftentimes it is about an individual or team’s success. For instance, a college football team upsetting a higher-ranked program that was expected to handily win the game. Sports are always awe-inspiring and capture international headlines. However, occasionally, sporting events can be eye-catching for all of the wrong reasons.
October 1st in Indonesia was supposed to be like any other night. The Arema, one of Indonesia’s professional soccer teams in their country’s league, was playing the Persebaya Surabaya. The game, although close, ended in a Pele score, 3-2, in favor of the Surabaya.
Angered that the visitors had won, the Arema’s home fans began to storm the feel, irate about calls, moments, and the overall result of the match. Suddenly, the police began to shoot tear gas at the fans charging, causing an insurmountable amount of chaos and disarray.
The end result has been devastating. Hundreds of fans were injured by not the police, but the confusion that ensued. More than 125 have been reported dead, making Saturday night’s incident one of the deadliest events in sporting history. It has been reported as the deadliest soccer event in close to 60 years. A international match in Peru against Argentina in 1964 ended with 328 fans dead and many more injured.
The president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, is appalled at the accidents that have propelled his country onto many of the world’s greatest news reports. Asking the police to take a long, clear look at the situation, he pledged that a soccer tragedy like this will never happen in the country again.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/02/world/indonesia-soccer-football-stadium
Image Credits: STR/AFP via Getty Images
