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Tag: 2022 FIFA World Cup

  • World Cup hopes for South Korea rest on Son Heung-min

    World Cup hopes for South Korea rest on Son Heung-min

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    SEOUL, South Korea — Few players carry an entire nation’s hopes like Son Heung-min.

    South Korea will be counting on the Tottenham forward’s two-footed shooting ability and his scoring touch at this year’s World Cup.

    The 30-year-old forward started the Premier League season without a scoring a goal in eight games, but he seems to have regained his touch just in time for the tournament in Qatar.

    The current group of players is arguably the best South Korea has ever assembled. Son is supported by several players in their 20s and early 30s getting regular minutes in European soccer.

    Still, the South Koreans will head to Qatar as underdogs in a tough Group H with Portugal, Uruguay and Ghana.

    South Korea coach Paulo Bento’s critics say he has a rigid style of play that’s over-reliant on Son and struggles at times to maximize his skill set. The defense has also been less than stout.

    ASIAN POWERHOUSE

    Qatar marks South Korea’s 11th appearance at the World Cup and its 10th straight. The country has reached the knockout rounds only twice — making the semifinals at home in 2002, and the last 16 in the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

    South Korea breezed through Asian qualifying but has looked underwhelming in recent friendlies, including a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica and a laborious 1-0 win over Cameroon in September.

    Some have criticized the South Korean soccer association for failing to book warm-up matches with stronger opponents and deciding to host all the team’s friendlies since June at home.

    South Korea’s run at the 2018 World Cup ended in the group stage. Son’s late goal capped off a 2-0 victory over Germany in the team’s final group match to eliminate the defending champions, but the South Koreans still failed to advance.

    “We will clearly be an underdog, but I hope we can create a real surprise for the stronger teams,” said Son, who will be playing at his third World Cup.

    BUILDING AROUND SON

    Son shared the Premier League scoring lead last season, but he has often struggled to be as loose and dangerous as he is with Tottenham when he’s playing for his country.

    Since taking over South Korea in 2018, Bento has experimented with various attack partners to fit with Son and now appears to have settled with a committee approach.

    Hwang Ui-jo, a forward for Greek club Olympiakos, adds another natural scorer to the lineup. But Hwang doesn’t create space for Son like Jeonbuk Hyundai’s Cho Gue-sung can with his ability to win balls in the air and stretch defenders.

    If Bento opts to sit deep and dial up defensive pressure against Uruguay or Portugal, he may pair Son with Freiburg forward Jeong Woo-yeong, who has the speed to chase balls and make plays across the field.

    Wolverhampton’s Hwang Hee-chan and Mainz’s Lee Jae-sung are likely to start as wingers, while Olympiakos’ Hwang In-beom pulls the strings from the midfield.

    TOUGH ROAD

    Bento wants his fullbacks to aggressively push forward and provide width to the attack. But the space they leave behind has also created defensive problems that South Korea has struggled to fix.

    Jung Woo-young, a veteran of Qatari club Al Saad, has often looked taxed in his role as the lone defensive midfielder shielding the backline. The team has shown a tendency to gradually concede space as the game progresses and easily allow goals in transition.

    Bento at least has a solid center back pairing. Kim Min-jae, who has looked impressive in his first season with Napoli, brings a rare combination of size, strength and speed. His partner, Kim Young-gwon, is one of the most experienced players on the team.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Spanish man trekking to World Cup believed arrested in Iran

    Spanish man trekking to World Cup believed arrested in Iran

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    MADRID — A Spanish man trekking from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is believed to be under arrest in Iran where he went missing more than three weeks ago, his family said Wednesday.

    “We learned this morning from the (Spanish) foreign ministry that there’s a 99% chance he (has been) arrested,” Celia Cogedor, the mother of 41-year-old trekker Santiago Sanchez, told The Associated Press.

    “We are filled with hope,” she said.

    Sanchez and his translator are believed to be in a prison in Tehran, the Spaniard’s parents said.

    Sanchez’s sister is due to meet Thursday with officials at the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid to learn further details.

    “We have gone from being in permanent suspense to having a very big ray of hope, so now we trust in the efforts of the embassy, which is the one that will officially tell us the situation he is in,” Santiago Sanchez told the AP.

    The foreign ministry said in a statement that the Spanish embassy in Tehran is in touch with Iranian authorities about Sanchez. It declined to provide further details.

    Iran is being engulfed by mass unrest, triggering fears about Sanchez’s fate after he stopped contacting his family in Spain on Oct. 2, a day after he crossed the Iraq-Iran border. He had warned his family that communication might be difficult in Iran.

    A Kurdish group called the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that Sanchez was taken away by Iranian security forces after visiting the grave of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old whose death in police custody sparked the current antigovernment protest movement.

    The group, citing anonymous sources, said that Iranian intelligence agents arrested him in Saqez, Amini’s hometown.

    The Kurdish group is based just across the border in Iraqi Kurdistan but has reliable connections in northwest Iran.

    Neither Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor its mission to the United Nations responded to requests for comment.

    The Spanish adventurer planned to go to Tehran, the Iranian capital, where a television station wanted to interview him. His next step would have been Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran where he would hop on a boat to Qatar. But all traces of him vanished even before he reached Tehran, his parents said.

    His parents reported him missing on Oct. 17. They said Spain’s police and diplomats were helping the family.

    This was not Sanchez’s first time in Iran. In 2019 the fervent soccer fan cycled a similar route to get from Madrid to Saudi Arabia.

    His parents say they are proud of his adventurous spirit and say his only aims are to help others and promote the Real Madrid soccer team.

    The demonstrations in Iran erupted on Sept. 16 over the death of Amini, who was taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not adhering to the country’s strict Islamic dress code.

    Tehran has violently cracked down on protesters and blamed foreign enemies and Kurdish groups in Iraq for fomenting the unrest, without offering evidence. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said authorities had arrested nine foreigners, mostly Europeans, over their alleged links to the protests.

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  • FIFA slams unacceptable TV deal offers for Women’s World Cup

    FIFA slams unacceptable TV deal offers for Women’s World Cup

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    AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Broadcasters were criticized by FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Saturday for what he called unacceptably low offers for rights to screen the Women’s World Cup next year.

    Offers of just 1% of the value of men’s World Cup rights deals have been rejected, Infantino said, for the tournament that starts in July in Australia and New Zealand.

    The men’s World Cup has driven FIFA’s expected overall income toward $7 billion for the four-year commercial cycle that ends in December after that tournament in Qatar.

    “100 times less, even more than 100 times in some occasions, then this is not acceptable,” the FIFA leader said at a news conference ahead of the finals tournament draw. “I don’t want to mention them, but those who are there, they know it.”

    The time zones in Australia and New Zealand mean many games, especially in the group stage, will be played in the nighttime hours in lucrative markets in Europe and the Americas.

    “We are not going to accept this,” Infantino said of the broadcast offers, “because we know that the viewing figures for these broadcasters in some big ing countries for the men’s World Cup or for the Women’s World Cup are actually very similar … meaning their commercial income is very similar for men and for women.”

    Infantino took a further jibe at broadcasters who he said pushed FIFA to treat women’s soccer more equally on issues such as World Cup prize money.

    The 32 teams at the men’s World Cup in Qatar will share $440 million in prize money, while a prize fund of $60 million was proposed for the first 32-team women’s edition in 2023.

    “In some countries, they are quite good at telling us … that we should give more emphasis on equal opportunities, on equality, on non-discrimination, on treating men and women in the same way which is, of course, what we have to do, and we try to do that to the best of our ability,” Infantino said.

    “It’s important that everyone puts actions, as well, behind words and we all start to treat women’s the same way.”

    FIFA has changed the commercial model for the Women’s World Cup to earn its own income instead of simply being packaged as an add-on for broadcasters and sponsors doing deals for the men’s tournament.

    Infantino suggested a further push for equality for women’s soccer, noting that Olympic tournaments have 16 men’s teams and only 12 for women.

    “Women should have 16 teams as well at the Olympic Games,” he said. “These are some discussions we are going to have.”

    Adding four women’s teams would need more than 70 athlete quota places when the International Olympic Committee is asking some governing bodies to make cuts to help find space for new sports and control organizers’ costs.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup

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  • Pandas sent by China arrive in Qatar ahead of World Cup

    Pandas sent by China arrive in Qatar ahead of World Cup

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    AL KHOR, Qatar — A pair of giant pandas sent as a gift from China arrived in Qatar on Wednesday ahead of next month’s World Cup.

    They will take up residence in an indoor enclosure in the desert nation designed to duplicate conditions in the dense forests of China’s mountainous Sichuan province. Eight hundred kilograms (nearly 1,800 pounds) of fresh bamboo will be flown in each week to feed them.

    Jing Jing, a 4-year-old male weighing 120 kilograms (265 pounds), has been given the Arabic name Suhail, and 3-year-old female Si Hai, at 70 kilograms (154 pounds), has been given the Arabic name Thuraya.

    The pandas will quarantine for at least 21 days before visitors will be allowed to see them.

    Qatar is expecting some 1.2 million visitors for the monthlong World Cup beginning Nov. 20. The gas-rich Gulf nation will be the first Muslim or Arab country to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

    Tim Bouts, the director of Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, said that in addition to providing the perfect indoor climate for the pandas, the enclosure will also shield them from stressful noises while allowing them to interact with visitors.

    “There was a lot of thinking which went into this building to make it, I think, the best building for pandas in the world,” he said.

    Pandas, which reproduce rarely in the wild and rely on a diet of bamboo in the mountains of western China, remain among the world’s most threatened species. An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild, while another 500 are in zoos or reserves, mostly in Sichuan.

    They are the unofficial national mascot of China, which has gifted pandas to 20 countries.

    China’s ambassador to Qatar, Zhou Jian, said the two pandas “will live a happy life here and bring more happiness, joy and a love to the people of Qatar and in this world.”

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  • WORLD CUP WATCH: Cavani back scoring to boost Uruguay hopes

    WORLD CUP WATCH: Cavani back scoring to boost Uruguay hopes

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    MADRID — There was relief for Edinson Cavani the moment his penalty kick struck the net.

    “What crossed my mind is that it finally went in,” he said after scoring his first goal since signing for Valencia.

    The Uruguay striker came to Spain looking for playing time ahead of potentially his last World Cup but had been growing anxious about his lack of scoring, having failed in his first three games with the club.

    That all ended against Elche in the Spanish league on Saturday, when he also scored with a header in first-half stoppage time in a 2-2 draw.

    “For us strikers, scoring is something very important,” the 35-year-old Cavani said. “We do things to help the team, we work for the team, but scoring goals is something that is good for us.”

    There was a scare for both Valencia and Uruguay when Cavani didn’t return for the second half against Elche because of an ankle injury, but he said after the game it wasn’t anything serious.

    “The ankle was swollen but it should be just a matter of days,” he said. “It hurts a bit, but it was a precaution.”

    Cavani will be looking to make it to his fourth World Cup with Uruguay, with whom he is expected to spearhead the attack alongside Luis Suárez and Darwin Núñez in a group containing South Korea, Ghana and Portugal.

    Along with Suárez, he helped the South American nation finish fourth in 2010 in South Africa. Four years later in Brazil, Uruguay was eliminated by Colombia in the round of 16.

    It was a disappointing ending for Uruguay and Cavani in 2018 in Russia, when he couldn’t contribute in a loss to eventual champion France in the quarterfinals because of a muscle injury that kept him from playing.

    RICHARLISON’S TEARS

    Holding crutches and not putting weight on his left leg, Tottenham forward Richarlison broke down in tears as he spoke about a calf injury that he feared might rule him out of playing in the World Cup for Brazil.

    “It’s kind of hard to say because it’s close to the realization of my dream,” he said Saturday after Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Everton, during which he pulled up with a calf strain and walked off the field.

    However, he has allayed any fears by saying on social media he will be back in two weeks.

    “Guys, thank God it was just a big scare!!” he wrote in Portuguese:

    Richarlison has emerged over the past year as a strong option for one of the forward spots in Brazil’s team, moving ahead of Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino as the starting No. 9 for now.

    INJURIES FOR PORTUGAL

    The supply line for Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup is thinning.

    Last week, Pedro Neto was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an ankle injury on club duty for Wolverhampton that requires surgery.

    Another left winger, Diogo Jota, might also be questionable for the World Cup. The Liverpool forward, who missed the first month of the season because of injury, was carried off on a stretcher late in the win over Manchester City on Sunday because of a thigh problem.

    RACE FOR JIMENEZ

    Mexico striker Raul Jimenez is also in danger of missing the World Cup.

    A groin injury has kept the 31-year-old Jimenez out of action for Wolverhampton in the Premier League since Aug. 31. And the team’s interim coach, Steve Davis, cannot guarantee his striker will return before the tournament in Qatar.

    “I think that’s the hope, but I’m not too sure,” Davis said. “It’s very difficult when you put a date on an injury. If it’s early, it’s a great surprise, but if it goes beyond that then people start wondering about the treatment and things like that. Rather than let people question it, it’s important we make sure he’s right, that his mental health is good and he’s in a good place.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • World Cup ticket sales top 90% of stadium capacity in Qatar

    World Cup ticket sales top 90% of stadium capacity in Qatar

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    DOHA, Qatar — Nearly 2.9 million tickets have been sold for the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA and organizers said Monday, leaving about 7% of seats still available.

    People living in the United States, Saudi Arabia and England topped the list of international ticket buyers, while Mexico was the biggest market outside Qatar for corporate hospitality sales.

    More tickets will become available before the tournament starts on Nov. 20, FIFA’s tournament director Colin Smith said at a news conference in Doha held with Qatari organizers.

    Tickets can typically become available late because stakeholders such as sponsors and FIFA member federations return them from their quotas.

    About 1.2 million international visitors are expected in Qatar for the 29-day tournament with extra accommodation still being added to avoid a shortage of rooms in the tiny emirate.

    Qatari officials said 2 million separate room nights have already been sold to fans — in hotels, apartments, cruise ships and some camping sites — with 30,000 room options now added to the capacity.

    Those new rooms added a total capacity of about 1 million room nights, said Yasir Al Jamal, director general of the Qatari organizing committee.

    Extra capacity was added last week with the hiring of a third, 1,075-cabin cruise ship to dock in Doha port as a floating hotel. Prices started at $470 each night during the opening two weeks when all 32 teams are still involved.

    Though 420,000 people worldwide applied to be a tournament volunteer working in Qatar, only 20,000 have been chosen, organizers said. A total of 11%, about 2,200 people, will come from abroad and 89% are from Qatar.

    Organizers said an innovation for this World Cup will be a central base for consular services with 45 countries represented by their embassy staff, in an exhibition hall in the downtown West Bay area.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Injury report raises hope for Di María’s World Cup status

    Injury report raises hope for Di María’s World Cup status

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    TURIN, Italy — Argentina winger Ángel Di María will be out for “around 20 days” with an injured right hamstring, Juventus announced on Thursday, leaving hope he can return in time for the World Cup.

    Juventus said tests revealed “a low-grade lesion to the hamstring of the right thigh,” adding “it will take around 20 days for the player’s complete recovery.”

    Di María exited Juventus’ Champions League loss at Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday when he pulled up grasping the back of his right thigh while wincing in pain.

    Argentina, one of the favorites for the World Cup in Qatar, opens on Nov. 22 against Saudi Arabia and also faces Mexico and Poland in Group C.

    Di María’s injury came days after fellow Argentina international Paulo Dybala was injured while playing for Roma.

    Also, Lionel Messi has a slight calf injury and was unavailable for Paris Saint-Germain’s game against Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • FIFA reveals sites for World Cup fan viewing parties

    FIFA reveals sites for World Cup fan viewing parties

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    ZURICH — Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro and Dubai Harbour in the United Arab Emirates are among six locations worldwide that stage fan festivals during the World Cup in Qatar.

    Mexico City’s Plaza de la República, Sao Paulo’s Anhangabaú Valley, and downtown nightclub venues in London and Seoul, South Korea, also will host official game viewing parties and music events.

    Organizers have also hired electronic music events from Saudi Arabia and England to perform during the tournament.

    The events will “only be open to consumers of legal drinking age” at the venues co-organized by FIFA and long-time World Cup sponsor AB InBev, which brews the Budweiser, Corona and Brahma brands.

    Entry to some events will be free and some will have an entry charge, FIFA said in a statement on Monday.

    FIFA also revealed more details of music events planned in Qatar during the Nov. 20-Dec.18 tournament.

    The electronic music festival Aravia, run by a Saudi Arabian events organizer, will be staged at a 5,500-capacity site at Al Wakrah.

    The Arcadia Spectacular event, staging DJs beneath a fire-breathing, giant metal spider structure, has been a feature of the storied Glastonbury music and culture summer festival in England. It will be on a 15,000-capacity site at nearby Ras Bu Fontas, also close to Doha’s new international airport next to the Persian Gulf.

    Qatari World Cup officials and the music promoters have not detailed ticket prices for their World Cup shows.

    The main fan festival site for watching the 64 tournament games is at Al Bidda Park on the southern tip of the Corniche waterfront.

    Qatar has relaxed some restrictions on where and when alcohol can be consumed in the emirate so that AB InBev beers can be sold at official fan parties and game viewing areas.

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    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Paris joins big screen boycott of World Cup games from Qatar

    Paris joins big screen boycott of World Cup games from Qatar

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    PARIS — Paris will not broadcast World Cup matches on giant screens in public fan zones amid concerns over rights violations of migrant workers and the environmental impact of the tournament in Qatar.

    It follows similar moves by other French cities, despite France going in as the defending champion. Some other European teams or federations are also looking at ways to protest.

    Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports, told reporters in the French capital that the decision against public broadcasting of matches is due to “the conditions of the organization of this World Cup, both on the environmental and social level.”

    He said in an interview with France Blue Paris that “air-conditioned stadiums” and the “conditions in which these facilities have been built are to be questioned.”

    Rabadan stressed that Paris is not boycotting the soccer tournament, but explained that Qatar’s “model of staging big events goes against what (Paris, the host of the 2024 Olympics) wants to organize.”

    The move comes despite the city’s football club, Paris Saint-Germain, being owned by Qatar Sports Investments.

    “We have very constructive relations with the club and its entourage yet it doesn’t prevent us to say when we disagree,” Rabadan said.

    Denmark is staging its own protest: Its team jerseys at the World Cup will include a black option to honor migrant workers who died during construction work for the tournament. And several European soccer federations want their captains to wear an armband with a rainbow heart design during World Cup games to campaign against discrimination.

    A growing number of French cities are refusing to erect screens to broadcast World Cup matches to protest Qatar’s human rights record.

    The mayor of Strasbourg, the seat of the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights, cited allegations of human rights abuses and exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar as the reason for canceling public broadcasts of the World Cup.

    “It’s impossible for us to ignore the many warnings of abuse and exploitation of migrant workers by non-governmental organizations,” Jeanne Barseghian said in a statement. “We cannot condone these abuses, we cannot turn a blind eye when human rights are violated.”

    And then, there’s the impact on the environment, Barseghian said.

    “While climate change is a palpable reality, with fires and droughts and other disaster, organizing a soccer tournament in the desert defies common sense and amounts to an ecological disaster,” she said.

    Arnaud Deslandes, a deputy mayor of Lille, said that by canceling public viewing of matches, the northern city wanted to send a message to FIFA about the irreparable damage of the Qatar tournament to the environment.

    “We want to show FIFA that money is not everything,” Deslandes told The Associated Press in an interview.

    As for residents’ reactions to the city’s decision, he added: “I have yet to meet a person in Lille who was disappointed by our decision.”

    The gas-rich emirate has been fiercely criticized in the past decade for its treatment of migrant workers, mostly from south Asia, who were needed to build tens of billions of dollars’ worth of stadiums, metro lines, roads and hotels.

    Qatar has been equally fierce in denying accusations of human rights abuses, and has repeatedly rejected allegations that the safety and health of 30,000 workers who built the World Cup infrastructure have been jeopardized.

    Qatar has also said that it is mindful of environmental concerns and has committed to offsetting some of the carbon emissions from the World Cup events through creating new green spaces irrigated with recycled water and building alternative energy projects.

    Environmental activists across France have supported the cancellation of public broadcasting in fan zones because outdoor viewing of the Nov. 20-Dec. 19 tournament would use energy that the country has been storing for winter.

    In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, authorities cited concerns with the energy cost associated with outdoor public broadcasts in the winter cold. The French government is calling for a sharp 10% reduction in the country’s energy use to avoid the risk of rationing cuts this winter amid tensions with supplier Russia over the war in Ukraine.

    “We are trying hard to save energy,” Bordeaux mayor Pierre Hurmic told the AP.

    He added: “It doesn’t make sense to roll out the red carpet to such a costly event in terms of energy and the environmental impact.”

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    Surk reported from Nice, France. Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.

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    More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Stadium tragedy exposes Indonesia’s troubled soccer history

    Stadium tragedy exposes Indonesia’s troubled soccer history

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    SEOUL, South Korea — Gaining the right to host next year’s Under-20 World Cup was a major milestone in Indonesia’s soccer development, raising hopes that a successful tournament would turn around long-standing problems that have blighted the sport in this country of 277 million people.

    The death of at least 125 people at a league game between host Arema FC of East Java’s Malang city and Persebaya Surabaya on Saturday is a tragic reminder, however, that Indonesia is one of the most dangerous countries in which to attend a game.

    “Do remember that the FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the worldwide spotlight since the event will be joined by 24 countries from five continents,” Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said last month as he pushed for thorough preparations for the tournament.

    Since Saturday, the domestic league has been suspended. Widodo has ordered the sports minister, the national police chief and the soccer federation to conduct a thorough investigation into the deadly stadium crush.

    Indonesia was the first Asian team ever to play at a World Cup — participating in 1938 as Dutch East Indies — but despite an undoubted national passion for the sport, it has never returned to the global stage because of years of corruption, violence and mismanagement.

    Data from Indonesia’s soccer watchdog, Save Our Soccer, showed 78 people have died in game-related incidents over the past 28 years.

    Those accused are often associated with supporter groups that attach themselves to clubs, with the biggest boasting hundreds of thousands of members.

    Arema intense rivalry with Surabaya meant that no visiting fans were allowed in the stadium on the weekend. Yet violence broke out when the home team lost 3-2 and some of the 42,000 Arema fans, known as “Aremania,” threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials.

    Restrictions on visiting fans also have failed in the past. In 2016, despite Persib Bandung supporters being banned from a game with bitter rival Persija Jakarta, they were blamed for the death of a Jakarta supporter.

    A month earlier, a Persib fan had been beaten to death by Jakarta followers.

    In 2018, local media reported a seventh death in six years related to Indonesia’s biggest soccer rivalry.

    Soccer fans have accused security officials of being heavy-handed in the past and on the weekend, with witnesses describing officers beating them with sticks and shields before shooting tear gas canisters directly into the crowds. In 2016, police were accused of killing 16-year-old supporter Muhammad Fahreza at a game between Persija and Persela Lamongan, resulting in mass demonstrations demanding an end to police brutality.

    “The police who were in charge of security violated FIFA stadium safety and security regulations,” soccer analyst Akmal Marhali told Indonesian media on Sunday, referring to the use of tear gas on Malang fans who entered the pitch after their team’s defeat. That sparked a rush for exits in an overcrowded stadium.

    “The Indonesia Football Association may have been negligent for not informing the police that security procedures at a football match are not the same as those at a demonstration.”

    FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, prohibits the use of tear gas by on-field security or police at stadiums.

    Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said police who violated regulations should be tried in open court.

    “This loss of life cannot go unanswered. The police themselves have stated that the deaths occurred after police use of tear gas on the crowd resulted in a stampede at the stadium exits,” Hamid said in a statement. “Tear gas should also never be fired in confined spaces.”

    The soccer association, known locally as PSSI, has long struggled to manage the game domestically.

    In 2007, Nurdin Halid was imprisoned on corruption charges but was able to continue as the organization’s president until 2011. After Halid was banned from running for another term, a rival league, federation and national team emerged.

    But chaotic administration continued until FIFA suspended Indonesia in 2015, a sanction that was lifted the following year.

    In 2019, when FIFA awarded Indonesia hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup, it was seen as a vote of confidence.

    In June, a FIFA panel inspected the country’s soccer facilities and planning for the May 20-June 11 tournament and proclaimed its satisfaction.

    “We are very pleased to see the preparations in Indonesia,” Roberto Grassi, Head of Youth Tournaments for FIFA said. “A lot of refurbishment work has been done already. We have had an encouraging visit and are confident of support from all stakeholders involved.”

    Kanjuruhan Stadium, the site of the disaster on Saturday, is not among the six venues listed for the Under-20 World Cup, although nearby Surabaya Stadium is scheduled to host games.

    FIFA has not yet commented on any potential impact on the Under-20 World Cup but the weekend tragedy is likely to damage Indonesia’s bid to host the 2023 Asian Cup. It is vying with South Korea and Qatar to become host of the continental championship after China relinquished its staging rights in May.

    Indonesia has already co-hosted the tournament, sharing the event in 2007 with Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam and hosting the final in Jakarta, where Iraq beat Saudi Arabia for the title.

    That was the last time Indonesia staged a major international soccer tournament. The Asian Football Confederation is expected to announce its decision on the 2023 tournament on Oct. 17.

    There is unlikely to be any soccer played before then as people in Indonesia, and football followers around the globe, come to terms with one of the deadliest disasters ever at a sporting event.

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    Duerden covers soccer in Asia for The Associated Press.

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    More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • EXPLAINER: What’s behind Indonesia’s deadly soccer match?

    EXPLAINER: What’s behind Indonesia’s deadly soccer match?

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    JAKARTA, Indonesia — Violence, tear gas and a deadly crush that erupted following a domestic league soccer match Saturday night marked another tragedy in Indonesian . Here’s a look at how the chaos occurred and what is being done to prevent future incidents:

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    HOW DID THE CHAOS OCCUR?

    Chaos broke out after Persebaya Surabaya defeated Arema Malang 3-2 in Saturday night’s match in East Java’s province Malang city. Police said there were some 42,000 spectators in the stadium, all of whom were Arema’s supporters because the organizer had banned Persebaya fans in an effort to avoid brawls.

    But a disappointing loss by Arema — the first match lost to Persebaya at its home stadium — prompted angry spectators to pour into the field after the match to demand answers. Fans threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials and violence spread outside the stadium, where at least five police cars were toppled and set ablaze and others damaged. Riot police responded with tear gas, which is banned at soccer stadiums by FIFA. But it sparked panic.

    Hundreds of spectators rushed to an exit gate to avoid the tear gas, resulting in a crush that trampled or suffocated 34 to death almost instantly, with many more deaths to follow due to injuries.

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    HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED?

    In one of the worst sports disasters, police said at least 125 people died, including children and two police officers, most of whom were trampled.

    More than 100 people were injured. Police said the death toll is likely to rise more with multiple people in critical condition.

    Data from an Indonesian watchdog organization, Save Our Soccer, said that at least 86 soccer fans had died since 1995, most of them in fights.

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    WHY DOES SOCCER BEGET VIOLENCE?

    Football is the most popular sport in Indonesia and the domestic league is widely followed. Fans are strongly attached to their clubs, and such fanaticism often ends in violence and hooliganism. But it usually happens outside the stadium.

    The most well-known feud is between Persija Jakarta and Persib Bandung. Supporters of the two clubs have clashed in several matches that led to deaths. In 2018, a Persija Jakarta supporter was beaten to death by Persib Bandung rivals.

    Indonesian football has also been beset with trouble on the international stage. Brawls broke out between supporters of archrivals Indonesia and Malaysia in 2019 during qualifiers for this year’s FIFA World Cup. In September 2019, Malaysian fans were threatened and pelted with projectiles at a World Cup qualifier in Jakarta, and Malaysia’s visiting sports minister had to be evacuated from the stadium after violence broke out. Two months later, fans hurled flares and bottles at each other in another match in Kuala Lumpur.

    Also in 2019, after losing in the finals of the U-22 match to Vietnam in the Southeast Asian Games, Indonesian fans took to social media to insult, harass, and send death threats to Vietnamese players and even their families.

    In June, two Persib Bandung fans died while jostling to enter the stadium in Bandung to watch the 2022 President’s Cup. The angry supporters became aggressive because the officers on the field did not allow them to enter the already-full stadium.

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    WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT IT?

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo has expressed his deepest regret and ordered a thorough investigation into the deaths. He has also ordered the premier soccer league suspended until a safety reevaluation is carried out and tighter security put in place. Widodo said he hoped “this tragedy will be the last tragedy of football in Indonesia.”

    Indonesia’s soccer association has also banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the remainder of the season. Rights group Amnesty International urged Indonesia to investigate the use of tear gas at the stadium and ensure that those found in violations are tried in open court.

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