The Beautiful Game has been periodically marred by ugliness. The recent incident that has shaken Indonesia as well as the global football fraternity is a case in point. At least 125 spectators lost their lives in a stampede that took place after a football match in East Java, with the tragedy being blamed on a mixture of police excess, flouting of established protocol by the police, poor management, as well as aggressive crowd behaviour. Incidentally, some of these factors have been common links that bind such painful episodes. For instance, several lives were lost during the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon earlier in the year and the debacle was blamed — just as is the case in Indonesia — on heavy-handed police action as well as a gate that had inexplicably been kept shut. What is deplorable is the tendency among authorities to pass the buck on to the excited spectators to conceal their own transgressions. Fifa, the world governing body of football, expressly prohibits the application of ‘crowd control gases’. The rule was breached by the Indonesian police, which fired tear gas in a bid to control what is being touted as an anarchic situation. This is a clear indication that the authorities are attempting to absolve themselves of their complicity in the deaths.

The vilification of the football spectator — fans bore the brunt of the disruptions at the Champions League final in Paris this year — has its roots in a particular image of the football follower. Football, unlike most other games, is associated with tribal passion. Intense rivalries among clubs and fans, violence and racism, inherent to football in a number of countries, have added to the blurring of lines between the fan and the thug. The irony is palpable. What has helped football become a major global sport — a passionate following — can, at times, turn out to be its weakness as well. But weaponising this troubling history to conceal lapses on the part of the authorities must be called out on every occasion. Indonesia cannot be an exception. Management of passionate crowds must be based on scientific rules and templates shared among footballing nations to prevent blood spilling onto the field.