Indonesia police: Stadium exit gates too small for escape from gunmen
September 14, 2014
NAINAN, Indonesia: One of the world’s most exclusive soccer events was just finished at a stadium here during a match between local teams Pohang Steelers and Persiram Raja Ampat.
Before the game, there was an announcement at the stadium: “Police will stop the entrance of exit gates of the stadium at 12 o’clock.”
Police were then stationed at all doors, and the crowd inside did not hear any warning. The game began at 12:10 p.m. and the team started its march to the exit gates at 12:15.
“For security reasons, the entrance gate is closed,” said a police officer outside the stadium, adding the match would be suspended for 30 minutes until police could clear the area.
“We got permission from the stadium owner,” he said. “But it was not until 2 p.m. when we could open the gate.”
After a long wait, the game resumed, and the Pohang Steelers were 2-0 up at the end of the first half when Pohang’s striker, Wences Tem of Indonesia, appeared on the field.
Tem, who was born in Indonesia but plays for Pohang, is believed to have been the first foreign player to play for Indonesia’s national soccer team, the PFF, since the late 1970s.
“I’m still waiting. I want to come back,” he said when The Associated Press interviewed him at a hotel in Jakarta while the game was still on. “They said the police will come to talk to me.”
On Friday, Tem, who is from Gresik, Central Java, scored the last goal against Persiram in the second half to send the Steelers into the last round of the men’s national soccer league. The Steelers lost, 1-0, to Persiram to finish with nine points.
Tem’s goal came three minutes into the second