Two officials from Arema FC have been banned for life over a weekend stadium riot that killed at least 125 people in Indonesia.

The soccer club was also fined 250 million rupiah ($25,000), Erwin Tobing, the head of the Indonesia Football Association’s discipline committee, told a news conference.

An Indonesian police chief has been fired and nine other officers suspended after the stampede, in one of the world’s worst sports disasters.

Chaos erupted after thousands of fans invaded the pitch as hosts Arema FC lost 3-2 to rivals East Java club Persebaya Surabaya.

Police fired tear gas to try to quell the pitch invaders, sending spectators scrambling to exit gates.

The mass rush led to a stampede that killed nearly three dozen people almost instantly.

Indonesian police said on Tuesday the gates at the soccer stadium were too small and could only accommodate two at a time when hundreds were trying to escape.

Photos from the Malang stadium showed four connecting doors forming one gate.

Police said the investigation was focused on six of the 14 gates where most of the spectators died in the crush.

Police spokesperson Dedi Prasetyo said the gates were unlocked but only able to accommodate two people.

“For those six gates, they were not closed but they were too small. They had a capacity for two people but there were hundreds coming out. There was a crush there,” Mr Prasetyo told reporters.

He added the gates were the responsibility of the organisers.

More than 40,000 spectators were at the match, all Arema fans because the organisers had banned Persebaya Surabaya supporters due to Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.

-Reuters