Rouge Flare Kills Football Fan in Bekasi Match

A friendly football match between Indonesia and Fiji ended in tragedy on Saturday, September 2, after a 32-yearold fan was killed by a flare.

The flare was illegally smuggled into the Patriot Stadium in Bekasi, where flares have been banned after disrupting games and causing injuries.

Catur Juliantono attended the game with his family and was struck on the head by a flare after pushing his 13-year- old cousin Taufik out of the way in an effort to save the child. “(The flare) was going to hit Taufik but (Catur) pushed him out of the way and (the flare) hit his head,” said Nurhasan, Catur’s father-in-law, as quoted by Kompas.

Juliantono was rushed to a nearby hospital but died on the way after sustaining heavy head injuries.

A video of the shocking incident was posted to YouTube and has since gone viral, highlighting the dangers of flares.

The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) issued a statement saying security had been heightened for the match to levels previously unseen in Indonesian football, but confessed the flare had been missed during checks.

Indonesia has long struggled with containing the fanbase’s love of flares, with the Asian Football Confederation, the peak body for football in Asia, fining PSSI US$60,000 after a flare was lit during a football match in March this year.

The individual or group which launched the flare that killed Catur is yet to be identified and police investigations continue.