Indonesia must solve its deadly football violence before bidding for Olympics or the World Cup
- Haringga Sirla was beaten to death by rival supporters before a game in Bandung in September, the 74th football-related casualty in 20 years
- Indonesia says it would bid for the 2032 Olympics and join Asean neighbours in a joint bid for the 2034 World Cup
Indonesia’s successful staging of the Asian Games in August, 2018 stirred the hearts of more than 260 million people, their pride swelling to the extent of wanting the country to aspire to even greater things – the Olympics and the Fifa World Cup.
For Mirah and Siloam, though, their hearts are weighed down by deep sorrow. In September last year – just weeks after the Asian Games ended – their 23-year-old son, Haringga Sirla, went to see his football team, Persija-Jakarta, play away to Persib Bandung in a domestic game.
He was stopped by a gang of youths outside the stadium, identified as a “Jakmania” supporter, beaten mercilessly and left to die.
While Indonesia thinks about the Olympics and World Cup, Haringga’s mother, Mirah, thinks about how her son was stabbed, had his skull fractured, his neck and nose broken and how his limp body was dragged away while video of the beating went viral. She thinks about this every day.
For Indonesia to make any bid to host the Olympics or World Cup, they must first ease the pain for Mirah, Siloam and the families of 73 others whose loved ones have been killed in football-related violence over the past 20 years. They must stamp it out.