Faisal Ali Addabi

Summary of the Problem:

In 1964 a crush at the Estadio Nacional during a game between Peru and Argentina left 328 people dead, that horrible incident has been recorded as the biggest disaster in football history.

In 2022, at least 174 persons have died and almost 200 more have been injured in a stampede at an Indonesian football match. This tragedy took place after police densely fired tear gas at Arema FC’s fans who had invaded the pitch following Arema FC’s home defeat to bitter rivals Persebaya Surabaya, which was the first defeat in more than two decades. As panic widely spread, thousands surged towards the stadium’s exits, where many persons were suffocated, crushed and died or injured. Overcrowding was a contributing factor to this tragedy as it was proved that 42,000 tickets had been issued for the 38,000-stadium seats.
The most important international question is as follows: How can we prohibit football riot which leads to catastrophic results such as deaths, injuries and issue of criminal records?

Summary of the Solution:

The practical solutions, which can effectively prohibit the football riot all over the world, can be presented as follows:

Firstly: Not allowing the police to carry or use the tear gas in football stadiums at all. All countries must firmly stick to the FIFA’s rule which expressly states that no “crowd control gas” should be carried or used by stewards or police at matches.

Secondly: Not allowing overcrowding of football stadiums, that is to say, the number of issued tickets shall not be bigger than the stadium seats at all

Thirdly: Prohibiting liquor drinking near football stadiums one day before the match and on the day of the match

Fourthly: Starting the football sensitive matches at 12 at noon instead of 3 after noon

Fifthly: Prohibiting the fans from attending very sensitive football matches (Empty Seats Policy)

Sixthly: Separating the fans of any two teams by using big and solid partitions in order to prohibit direct clashes or frictions

Seventhly and Finally: requesting famous international football players and coaches to lecture football fans and train them to accept football defeats with sporting spirit and reject football riot which only leads to deaths, injuries and criminal records.

Faisal Ali Addabi\Advocate