Asian boss chides Indonesia over deaths

Asia's football chief Wednesday questioned Indonesia's safety standards after a stadium stampede left two people dead at this week's Southeast Asian Games soccer final.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) acting president Zhang Jilong called for a report from Indonesia after Monday's tragedy, which also left a nine-year-old boy in a coma.

"We are very sorry to hear such bad news. All football matches should be made secure by all member associations," Zhang said at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The deadly crush happened when spectators broke through barriers at Jakarta's sold-out, 88,000-capacity Gelora Bung Karno stadium for the game between Indonesia and Malaysia, which the visitors won on penalties.

"They should take care not only of the players on the field but also the fans who are so excited outside the field," Zhang said, adding that spectators were packed into stairwells.

"So we should take action to ask the Indonesian football federation to give us a detailed report about this."

Indonesian police have said they will investigate the fatal stampede, which came after tens of thousands of fans without tickets descended on the venue in central Jakarta.