Indonesian football fans tore plastic seats from the stands of the stadium and tossed them onto the pitch at a stadium which is scheduled to host the Asian Games next month. A league match between Sriwijaya FC and Arema FC ended in disruption yesterday afternoon when the fans tore the seats at the Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium in Palembang in Sumatra.
According to the reports 335 seats were damaged and half of them will have to be replaced with seats ordered from outside Indonesia.
Pictures showed multi-coloured chairs strewn across the outer edges of the ground, which is bordered by an athletics track.
“We are very upset with the supporters who ruined the seats in Gelora Sriwijaya during the game,” Rusli Nawi, the stadium’s security supervisor, told AFP.
“I’ve been here for nearly 10 years… there has never been damage to the seats like yesterday.”
The stadium had been modernized for the Games, which are being held in Palembang and the capital Jakarta from August 18-September 2.
Police have arrested four people over the conflict, which was started by Sriwijaya fans upset at their team’s 3-0 home loss, Nawi said.
