The World's Most Dangerous Football League 

No matter how much you love football it's really not worth losing your life over and it's sad that this happens

Alfie, thank you for doing this. I’m a Brit-Indonesian, living in Jakarta and have followed your excellent videos for a good few years now. The level to which you analysed Indonesia: its football and otherwise, confirms that you’re a true journalist with your finger firmly on the pulse. Keep up the good work mate.

As an Indonesian, it's also worth noting that mob mentality is a big issue here, many fans do act "thuggish" in the football stadium and not having to worry about anything since there will be people that support if not follow them. Many "ultras" here like to provoke other team's supporter that usually leads to a massive group fight some of them even results in death, hell even in some occasion, these ultras even attack opposition team player, one of the most recent attack is directed toward Thailand national team's bus entourage. Let's not forget, these "tough guy" will also take pride after physically attacking opposition fans since they believe it's somekind of a devotion towards their club. These attack not only happen before the match or during the match, but also after the match, you can see some ultras wait outside the stadium to "greet" their opposition, what really make it worse, some of these people carry a machete or any other big knife. This mob mentality really tainted Indonesian football, since you can never really feel safe entering or leaving the stadium especially in some bigger club matches

It is really embarrassing that a country with the fourth largest population and football as the most popular sport is still ranked outside the top 100 😭

One day I was accompanying my dad in a hospital, which neighbors a major football stadium. It was matchday, one of the top clubs in the league plays against some lower-ranking club, I don't recall which one. The nurses and doctors on duty didn't seem to be so happy about it. I had a chat with one nurse, "on every matchday we get way busier, especially the ER," she said, "fans would come in droves, bleeding, suffocating, unconscious, it would get chaotic real quick after the final whistle". So I guess you weren't very far off the mark. Kanjuruhan tragedy was a shocking and horrifying one for Indonesians as well, but we had kind of foreseen it. Violence and incidents happened virtually week in week out, unless we make radical changes to how the sport is being run in the country, something big would likely happen.

I'll never forget that time a bunch of highschoolers hijacked a bus to go to a Persija match. Several passengers, including myself were forced to ditch it. Indonesian league is dangerous even to bystanders.

Finally happy to see Indonesian getting covered in this channel but also heart-breaking considering the content that it's in although the culture potrayed in the video is indeed somewhat accurate.

wow, this guy documented the whole indonesian football culture better than 95% articles most of them made by indonesian thank you for making documentary this detail and hopefully someday we can be proud of our football on international level without any bloodshed in domestic matches. makasih bang videonya kece

Yup. Unfortunately, the deadliest place to be a football fan is indeed, in Indonesia. To be called "Brazil of the region", well... Indonesia can't even win the southeast asian championship until this day.

Finally a video on Indonesian football as a non-Indonesian that watches the league this is much appreciated thank you alfie

Even though you had to cover it under less than better circumstances, I'm just happy that you finally give proper coverage of Indonesian Football. Of course, that doesn't excuse every terrible hooliganism and corruption-related incident that happened for its entire history however, especially the Kanjuruhan Stampede Disaster even though it's involving the main rival of my Local Team.

I am one of supporter from local club here in Indonesia called Persita Tangerang. Can comfirm these as I had 3 of my friends dead on football fans riots. One when I was 9 year old I watched my friend got stabbed several times. One when I was in middle school, he was getting beat to death. And the last one was when I was in vocational highschool when one of my friend gone for few days and then his dead body found drifting on the river. After that I said I am done with the local football, because this shit would still happen. In fact, the same city rival of Persita called Persikota once got dissolved by the major of the city because he had enough with those football fans riot, especially during the city derby.

The thing about Indonesia is that, apart from the stadium disaster, I have not heard of any of the things that happened there. But it was quite big news for the Copa Libertadores final to be played in Madrid because of River and Boca fans

Big thanks Alfie for doing this justice. Thank you for taking the time and energy to do some mariana trench level of researches on every subjects you talk about. You've shown me more pictures on my country's history than in my school history books. You've shown me more pictures on the Kanjuruhan tragedy than what I've seen in the media. Your pronunciations are respectable and personally impressive compared to other non-speakers. You've presented more nuances and contexts than anyone who talked about this topic.

I saw someone somewhere on the internet saying that Indonesia is the Tottenham Hotspur of South East Asia. I've never been mad at something that I completely agree with.

Thanks for documenting my country's football league. We know that our league is the best in the world(in terms of danger, corruption, match fixing, idiot boards, etc)

Might I say this is probably the best compiled story on the Kanjuruhan tragedy. It is, sadly, true on all aspects. Corruption has always been rampant here and is affecting all aspects of life, including and not limited to football. Thank you Mr. Harmer for this incredible video.

Glad you covered SEA football, theres a huge love for the game here and the level is growing every year.

i used to live near a stadium (wibawa mukti, look it up). As someone who loves football but rarely watches local football (my father would rather see me up at 3am watching european football than watching local football at 3 pm lol), it's pretty sad that everytime there's a derby match on that stadium, people treat it as a potential riot 🥲 and yes, for a country that is mad about football, we are severely underachieving

No more lives should be spent outside of old age and cataclysms, that any have been so needlessly lost in the name of the beautiful game is a great shame on all of us supporters everywhere. United We Stand, divided we fall. We are many because we are One. Football should unify and transform communities, not harm them but corruption is a very volatile issue we must contend with. 🖤🙏🏼

Probably the best video you've ever done, Alfie. Really well done on documenting all of this in just a 30 minute video. So fascinating from beginning to end I would've kept watching if you'd gone on for 2 hours or more. My friend went to see Bali United on holiday a number of years ago, claiming to have never seen anything like it (brought back a really cool football shirt from the team store too), so I knew I'd learn something really devastating at some point about the recent stadium disaster. Very glad you did it justice.

Only in Indonesia you can pay at one single price to watch many sports in one place one time. I speak on behalf of Indonesians out there. Also, you covered this almost quite right on time because this week we will have PSSI Extraordinary Congress which we hope would be the game-changer for football in Indonesia.

Thank you for doing this video Alfie. What you covered here sums up the reason why most Indonesians support european teams instead of local ones for fear of their safety when watching games or getting caught wearing the wrong jersey. 😢

I did not expect Liga 1 BRI would make it here. But it finally does. EDIT: To my fellow Indonesians who responded with 'ADA INDONESIA CUY' or all that sort, maybe try to... y'know, watch the video? Then come back and say that you are proud that Indonesian football is discussed by Alfie. EDIT 2: How did Indonesian government found $30 billion for new capital city? Simple. They did not.

Great video! Been waiting for 30+ minute dive into the state of football in Indonesia ever since I started watching HITC Sevens football documentaries. 🇮🇩

I wonder why FIFA awarded Indonesia the U20 World Cup. It is ridiculous.

Great video as usual Alfie. Would recommend anyone who is interested in this to read 1312: Among the Ultras by James Montague. Class book with a chunk on Indonesia towards the end.

finally done watching this, really appreciate how deep your research onto this video. I used to go watch my local city team almost every match on the stadium, and witness with my own eyes the riot that happening after the match. Those days are long gone now, i have grown more tired and cynical of my country football state. Here's only hoping one day we can achieve what Thailand has already achieved in football. A really good analysis video Alfie!

Well done Alfie, this is a great video about our country's league and welcome to the rabbit hole of Indonesian football, there are lots more of things that might get you interested if you deep dive into it

I always enjoy the videos u make Alfie but this has to be up there as one of the most fascinating and a real eye opener to a country and its love for football that I literally knew nothing about. Absolutely superb work as usual

When i visit my sister in java(i live in borneo) i heard her talking to her 3 yo kid and said "you can be anything you want when you grow up, except a football player" even though she never watched a single match in her live, its just one example but it is still something that came from all the issues we have and affect the general public view of the game.

As someone from nearby Singapore, this is certainly quite illuminating.

Top tier video. As a European who lived in Indonesia for 6 years and knew about some but definitely not all covered in this video, thank you. :)

The way you dive into the historical side of Indonesia to give context on why our football culture is the way it is is much appreciated. Good job.

Thanks for covering this Alfie. A thorough and objective analysis, even as indonesian some things i just know after watched this

A very well-made and well-researched analysis video of Indonesian football! Can't believe you covered all the nuances, the cultural and historical aspects of it! Slight correction though, not all Jakmania go through rigorous physical training like a militia group preparing for terrace violence, in fact it's only small portion of it who does that, most Jakmania members are just your regular fans, and we are not actively looking for a fight, it's more about self-defense because sometimes when you and your mates go home from the game, people might jump you or smth like that. I know I sound like I'm trying to justify the violence, but I'm not. I myself want all the violence to end as well. Because I have been following my team, Persija and Indonesian football in general since 2002. And unfortunately, I have witnessed so much violence and deaths. I really just want it to end. Because I want my kids to grow up and be able to watch my team play safely. Keep up the good work man! Much love from Jakarta!

I knew a guy when i lived on Argentina that is now serving time on prison, because he and his friends pushed a guy from another team out of a train and the dude died... so yeah take it easy guys, don't take this beautiful sport that seriously.

Amazing journalism. Despite being friends with professional football players in Indonesia, I never bothered to watch them play live because of the violence always lingering in the air at football matches. I really appreciate the time and work you put in to bring this to light.

In Indonesia, there are indeed many who like football, but most are too intent and passionate to support their favorite club, so they feel that they have control, so they become extreme supporters, in my opinion. I hope that Indonesian football from all aspects can get even better so that it won't be labeled as bad, keep up the spirit. hello from tasikmalaya city,

This type of video is exactly the reason I love this channel. What a banger of a vid

I would say, Indonesia's main problem is their human resources quality is very low, which comes down to poor education for most of the people here. And also poor professionalism at all level, from the government, football association, club management, players, to the supporter itself.

about time you cover indonesian football, thank you for the video alfie!

these type of videos you make are literally my favourite thing on youtube. half of it has nothing to do with football and its great

Very, very good video, alfie. Well done. I’m glad you touched on the murder of the persija fan in bandung. It was extremely brutal. He was sexually assaulted with a bamboo stick, and the video of the incident was widely circulated online. The crazy thing is, only 7 people were arrested for the murder, and their punishments range between 7 to 9.5 years in prison, which is extremely lenient. It’s sad, but the violence isnt going away anytime soon.

as an indonesian, i agree to this. i like football and i do have favourite teams. but from i was a kid, i always told by my parents not to watch football live on stadium. they simply worry about all the tragedy and every matches have high potential to be chaos. but i've never heard of international matches in indonesia that became chaos though

Just watched the vid and as an Indonesian myself (and one who lived in the same town as these Aremania's), I give props to HITC for rightly pointing out that the chain of events that led to the incident started because the fans pitch invaded to confront their own team because they can't accept a loss to their bitter rivals. It's funnily tragic to see how the fans blamed the cops and vandalized pretty much the entire town with anti-cop slogans to this very day when the cops themselves, while they were doing it wrong, were forced to act that far because the fanbase is such a sore loser. It's so annoying that I had to live in the same town as these hypocrite bastards...

Great research as always.

Respect Alfie, enjoy all of your vids, reckon u as a top journalist. Thank you for your good work!

cracking show, lad. Loved it. But this where i fell like getting up and giving BCCI a pat in the back.

Well done on your research, excellent video

brazil of asia is an insane overstatement alfie lol

I'm really excited and hopeful with the new PSSI commissioner, Mr. Erik Tohir, to bring Indonesian football a step forward. He's had a really good history with football and sports in general with Inter Milan and Philadelphia 76ers

great video alfie, illuminating in fact

As an indonesian whose parents live practically next to a football stadium, if there were ever a vote if football should be banned here, i'd probably vote yes.

been following u for quite sometime and i know its just inevitable that you're gonna make a video about my country state of football lol. Gonna watch this later after work

I learn so much on this channel

Well done, very detailed 👏🏻

99% of these violence happened in Java though. As Sumatran, Bornean, Papuan, etc barely have any violent incident. I watch my home club PSPS played our northern neighbors PSMS (both from Sumatra) once and everything was fine. Both sets of ultras even song chants of appreciation towards each other.

Name another league where away teams arrive in APCs instead of team buses...I'll wait.

I absolutely love the history lessons that come with my footy doccies on this channel, truly informative as always, thanks Alfie!

Thailand & malaysia have better football in southest east asia

Not gonna lie, this is well-researched video, I am indonesian but I got some information from this video which I never knew before.

Aw shucks, as an Indonesian I am both ashamed but somewhat proud seeing Indonesia on HITC

Its a rather fun league to watch. Lots of creative players. The corruption is tragic though.

Thanks Alfie I know my country was as Dangerous as Anywhere but I want learn from the EFL right now As an Indonesian I respect with your opinions for making this video.

WOW,I did not know Indonesia was such a football mad country with history of corruption,rivalries and violence .Thanks Alfie for doing your research and sharing with us this story.

Worth mentioning that for a while at least, Persib Bandung versus Persija Jakarta games were held in Bali. In most cases it would seem a little excessive to make two teams from Java play on a completely different island, but given the fans' penchant for killing each other, it sadly made a lot of sense.

The fact that Indonesia qualified for just one World Cup in 1938 (as Dutch East Indies) because of Japan's withdrawal said much about the poor status of Indonesian football. Indonesia has taken part in two FIFA tournaments (1938 World Cup and 1979 U-20 World Cup) and has not scored even a goal. Besides, political problems also prevent Indonesia from going forward. Under the Suharto dictatorship, Indonesians benefited very little from the country's rapid economic growth and football clubs were either under various military Generals or affluent business people with link to the army. Not until 1998 that Suharto was toppled in a brutal unrest. Indonesia is, today, having one of the highest rate of unequal GDP/per capita in Asia for this exact reason. This is why Indonesian football today is basically the combination of mismanagement and past political messes. Hopefully under coach Shin Tae-yong (who guided South Korea to a historic 2-0 win over Germany in 2018), thing may go better for Indonesia. Besides, I wonder what influenced Indonesia to take our country's flag but made it reverse, since it really gave us more football luck than Indonesia.

Can you do a video of why several Football leagues starting to adopt Franchise system? India, Singapore, Philippines uses franchise system and also looks like Indonesia gonna head to the same direction as starting this year there are gonna be no relegation/promotion anymore in Liga 1.

Can you do a video on average footballers who were signed following incredible international tournaments

Boneks - "Liverpool FC supporters, hold my beer!" Quite a thorough and objective geopolitical summary which also highlights the issue that Indonesia's Pancasila mantra is a load of bollocks, as reflected in the football tribalism. It makes Football Factory and Green Street seem like a Disney movie! Danny Dyer will definitely not survive at an away game

I'm from Indonesia, the incident at Kanjuruhan Indonesia which killed hundreds of people, happened because of a miss communication between the security forces and the supporters, the fans are indeed very fanatical in Indonesia, especially when there is a derby between two big clubs in Indonesia, but usually things like this have never happened before🤷🏼‍♂️🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩

Imagine being their rival country. Malaysian national team players used to be escorted using Barracuda armored vehicle when playing against their national team at their home turf. Malaysian supporters used to be thrown with piss and rocks by the ultras. There were not much moments of peacefulness in this game. Every time both team met, it's always like hell between both supporters.

I was pretty bummed when Indonesia got kicked out of World Cup qualifying. I was living in Taiwan at the time, and, miraculously, the national team had actually won a game (a whole game!) and got through to the next round. With Indonesia being kicked out of the group, I had one fewer opportunity to watch them lose! Also, moving the capital is super important to the country. Jakarta infrastructure simply can't handle that many people, and it sinking into the sea would be...somewhat problematic. I read an article on it, but this simplification is what I can remember. I would say that, 'yes', it is more important than football. But given how important football is in Indonesia, the basic argument of giving the sport more money is hardly blemished.

A lot of people avoid being in the vicinity of stadiums on match days, especially on derby days. Violence in the stadium isn’t super common, violence outside it by the ultras/hooligans on the other hand…

i did my senior thesis for my history degree on violence and hooliganism in football in the 60s-80s. it is so sad we still see this violence to this day

Please do a video on the 7 *highest scoring* GOALKEEPERS of all time. Would be a fun video.

It is even dangerous enough to be non-football fans that cross paths with these football "fans". Some unfortunate cars, motorcycles and stores were damaged while having nothing to do with any football matches

Terimakasih banyak ini benar-benar video yang bagus banyak pelajaran dalam dokumenter ini.

Finally Alfie covering Indonesia football league 👌

Thats Indonesia, no incident no revolution.. now our football in revolution phase.. ex-Inter Milan Chief currently lead our football.. as our biggest hope now...

Oh god, that picture of the team where everyone's hunched over and that one dude just sending at the same height

Was anyone else watching the 1st ten minutes of this and completely forgotten that it was a football video?

As Indonesian maybe we should just abandon football and just embrace badminton fully ... i mean that's the only sports we can realistically be the best in the world

C'mon Indonesia get it together, hope u guys do. Football is love.

It´s so sad the only things they took from Italian football fans is the loudness and pirotecnics...they could at least have taken the stadium food!

I am extremely so sad to hear the state of the Indonesian football even though,I like the country extremely so much daily and ever in this world and other planets,good friends!!!Those supporters made the atmosphere even more worse than when the usual ecstacy of each and every respective stadiums in Indonesia would happen all the time and Rest In Peace to all the respective people who passed away in the recent tragedy at the stadium which was extremely so brutal to watch,good friends!!!Indonesian Football Federation must eradicate this brutal hooligans which spreaded to the nation extremely so strictly and make sure all the respective footballing supporters buy their respective tickets,attend their respective teams' respective football matches at the respective stadiums and leave from there once all the respective matches would be over extremely so safely,good friends!!!LONG LIVES RESPECTIVE TO THE RESPECTIVE CITIZENS AND NATION OF INDONESIA!!!🙏🇲🇨

As an indonesian, our overall national football condition including the league and the fan violence are disgustingly embarassing.

Just a few weeks ago a bunch of Aremania attacked Arema FC office. I mean, these supporters really did a good job making me feeling less sympathetic towards them. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️

What a take on a subject 👏

Man i miss my home football being decent (Sriwijaya FC)

That was a very well researched and made video - and a very hard video to watch/listen to. So much disregard for human life, so much corruption, it's disgusting. No wonder the FIFA wants every part of that.

I lost one of my close family in kanjuruhan tragedy, I feel nauseous every time I think about how little the association and everyone in charge/responsible took responsibility.

i'm indonesian and i'm not doubt this is very true reality life about our football league.. we have more fanaticsm passion for football, but that just make we blind about how make a safety match for fans.. well, about die people cause rivalry stories that true

It's normal here to have 3-4 armored vehicles in a match

Nice, keep up

As an Indonesian i want the whole PSSI to be sacked. Not a single person and their friends should be able to get into the new football governing body

As an Indonesian, I doubt it'll change.

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

Ive been managing PSPS in FM23. I feel there is a massive disconnect between that game and the reality on the ground.