Picture Credit: Twitter
The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) on Tuesday announced that a minute’s silence will be observed at every European match to be held this week for the Indonesia Stadium stampede. All matches to be played in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, and Women’s World Cup Play-offs will observe a minute’s silence. Notably, 131 people died in the tragedy that took place a few days back.
The terraces of the Kanjuruhan stadium were packed on Saturday evening with 42,000 "Aremania", or Arema FC fans, for a match against fierce rivals Persebaya Surabaya. But after a 3-2 defeat, the first home loss for more than two decades to their adversaries, fans streamed down to the pitch to confront players and management.
Meanwhile, police officers responded to the pitch invasion with force, kicking and hitting fans with batons, according to witnesses and video footage, which prompted more fans to enter the pitch. Police described the incident as a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accused them of overreacting.
As FIFA President Gianni Infantino had termed the incident on Sunday "a dark day for all involved in football and a tragedy beyond comprehension", UEFA announced its decision to pay tribute to the victims.
"UEFA has today announced that a moment of silence will be held prior to kick-off in memory of the victims of the tragic events at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Indonesia," read its statement. "This moment of silence will take place at all UEFA matches this week (Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Women's World Cup play-offs)."
Coming back to the incident, the number of deaths jumped again on Tuesday as six more victims had succumbed to their injuries, according to a report in AFP. Meanwhile, Indonesian officials claimed that 4,000 more tickets had been allocated for the match than should have been, while some of the stadium's doors appeared to have been shut, according to witnesses.