October 1, 2022: A crush of fans kills 131 people after a soccer game at the Kanjuruan Stadium in Malang Regency, on the island of Java, in Indonesia.
Stadion Kanjuruhan opened in 2004. It seats 42,449 fans, and is 545 miles east of the national capital of Jakarta. It is the home field of Arema, a team in Indonesia's Liga 1, named for a legendary knight in the kingdom that ruled present-day Indonesia in the Middle Ages. Founded in 1987, and nicknamed "the Mad Lions," they have won the top league if Indonesian soccer in 1993 and 2010, and the Piala Indonesia (that country's version of the FA Cup) in 2005 and 2006.
On October 1, 2022, Arema were scheduled to play a Liga 1 match against Persebaya Surabaya. A much older team, founded in 1927, it is based in Surabaya, 482 miles east of Jakarta. Nicknamed "the Green Crocodiles," Persebaya have won top-league titles in 1951, 1952, 1978, 1988, 1997 and 2004; and the Cup in 1990. When they play Arema, 85 miles to the south, it is a rivalry known as the Super East Java Derby.
Unfortunately, as with most countries where soccer is the top sport, Indonesia has a history of hooliganism. Riot police have to be deployed at some matches. In 2018, a game at Kanjuruhan between Arema and Persib Bandung resulted in a fan's death after the police dispersed the crowd with tear gas. A riot squad was prepared for action on the day of the October 1, 2022 match -- or so they thought.
The game itself, and the leadup to it, had no reports of violent conduct. And the game itself was unremarkable, aside from the fact that Arema had lost at home to Persebaya for the 1st time, 3-2. But after the game, 4 fans got onto the field, hoping to take pictures with some Arema players.
Had the police simply allowed this peaceful action to happen, there would have been nothing for anyone outside Indonesia to care about. Unfortunately, as police sometimes do, they overreacted, chasing the fans, pulling their shirts off, and beating them.
This caused about 3,000 fans to come to their aid, and fight the police. This caused the police to unleash the tear gas, and fans all ran to Gates 12, 13 and 14. This led to a crowd crush, asphyxiating fans. The injury toll has been reported as 547, with 131 deaths.
This makes it either the 2nd-worst, or 3rd-worst, sports-related disaster in human history, depending on whose version of the 1982 Luzhniki Stadium Disaster you believe: If it's the 66 that the Russian government has since said it was, then the Kanjuruhan Stadium Disaster is the 2nd-worst, trailing only the 1964 Estadio Nacional Disaster in Peru, with 328, and easily surpassing the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium Disaster at 97; if it's the 340 that some speculated at the time, then it's Luzhniki 1st, Estadio Nacional 2nd, Kanjuruhan 3rd.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia told the Football Association of Indonesia (in their language, Persatuan Sepakbola Seluruh Indonesia or PSSI) to suspend all Liga 1 matches until an "evaluation of improvement of security procedures" was completed. The PSSI did so, and also banned Arema from hosting matches for the rest of the season: All home matches to follow would be rescheduled for neutral sites. Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa of East Java announced that his government would financially compensate the victims' relatives.
Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the head of the national police, removed Ferli Hidayat, the Head of Police of Malang, from his post. The policemen shown assaulting fans were also criminally charged.
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October 1, 2022 was a Saturday. In England, a North London Derby was played at the Emirates Stadium. Hosts Arsenal beat arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur, 3-1.
In America, the NBA and the NHL were in the preseason. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Giancarlo Stanton and Kyle Higashioka hit home runs, in support of Nestor Cortés. Aaron Judge, with 61 home runs on the season, went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.
* A doubleheader was split at Nationals Park in Washington. The Washington Nationals won the opener, 13-4. The Philadelphia Phillies won the nightcap, 8-2.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. It took 5 Toronto pitchers to pitch a 5-hit shutout.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Guardians, 7-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Miami Marlins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13-3 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-4 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
And there were college football games, including the following:
* Number 1 Georgia beat Missouri, 26-22 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.
* Number 2 Alabama beat Number 20 Arkansas, 49-26 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
* Number 3 Ohio State beat Rutgers, 49-10 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* Number 4 Michigan beat Iowa, 27-14 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.
* Number 5 Clemson beat Number 10 North Carolina State, 30-20 at Clemson Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.
* Number 6 Southern California (USC) beat Arizona State, 42-25 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 7 Kentucky were upset by Number 14 Mississippi, 22-19 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.
* Number 9 Oklahoma State beat Number 16 Baylor, 36-25 at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.
* Number 11 Penn State beat Northwestern, 17-7 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
* Number 17 Texas A&M were upset by Mississippi State, 42-24 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.
* Number 18 Oklahoma were not only upset, but annihilated, by Texas Christian (TCU), 55-24 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
* Number 21 Minnesota lost to Purdue, 20-10 at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
* Number 22 Wake Forest beat Number 23 Florida State, 31-21 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
* Number 24 Pittsburgh lost to Georgia Tech, 26-21 at Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) in Pittsburgh.
* In a battle of service academies, Air Force beat Navy, 13-10 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
* Army lost to Georgia State, 31-14 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* And Notre Dame had a bye week.
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