Indonesian Football Faces Pivotal Moment After Stadium Disaster.

The deadly stampede at an Indonesian football stadium has shaken the foundations of the country’s most popular sport and was the culmination of decades of mismanagement and violence, experts say.

Experts on Indonesian speak of shaky infrastructure, mismanagement, hours-long waits to leave outdated stadiums and the potential for heated passions to descend into violence that has killed scores since the 1990s.

“This is a wake-up call, one that has cost us greatly,” Indonesian football commentator Kusnaeni told AFP.

President Widodo visited the site of the tragedy on Wednesday, ordering an audit of all stadia and pointing to the country’s 78,000-seater national stadium in Jakarta as the standard he expects across the 18-team league.

The gates at the 42,000-capacity Kanjuruhan stadium in East Java’s Malang were big enough to fit only two people at a time and some were not open on time, officials said.