After the awful football stadium disasters of the past, where large numbers of supporters were either killed or injured in a stampede, one would think that the lessons were well learnt. Don't exceed ground capacity, separate fans of rival sides where necessary, avoid the use of tear gas by police, and so forth.

In the most recent and truly terrible calamity yesterday in Indonesia, some of these fundamentals were broken. One hundred and ninety people are dead, many more injured. Sure, fans from the home side (who lost) invaded the pitch when they shouldn't and it seems that some rioting took place too. Football is a passionate game and when you have a strong rivalry with another club, emotions can boil over. Those emotions must get channelled somewhere.

But many people who did not invade the pitch were caught up in a panicked rush to an exit where they were crushed. What is there to say to the families of the dead, who only a few hours earlier where heading off cheerfully for the big game? There is nothing really, nothing but tears.