AFF Cup semifinal between Indonesia, Vietnam to limit spectators

By Hieu Luong January 4, 2023 | 07:55 pm PT

Fans raise a giant Indonesia flag in a football match. Photo by AFP

Only 50,000 spectators will be allowed in the 77,193-capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta for the 2022 AFF Cup semifinal first leg between the host and Vietnam on Friday.

After a fatal stampede that killed 133 people at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in October, Indonesian authorities have decided football matches will be played without spectators or with a limited number of spectators with express police permission.

At the 2022 AFF Cup Indonesia only allowed 25,000 and 40,000 spectators for its matches against Cambodia and Thailand.

The organizers usually earmark 8% of the seats for away fans, and so 4,000 Vietnamese fans will be allowed into the stadium, a significantly higher number than for Vietnam's two previous away matches.

At the opening match in Laos, only 2,000 fans had been allowed. The match in Singapore was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium, which has a capacity of 6,000, and so a mere 280 fans could witness it.

The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium was built in 1962 with a capacity of 110,000, but renovations in 2006 and 2016 brought its capacity down to 77,193.

But it is still the 28th largest stadium in the world and eighth largest in Asia, and considered a difficult place for away teams.

The Indonesia-Vietnam match kicks off at 4:30 p.m. (Hanoi time) on Friday. VnExpress International will cover the match live.