At least eight fans died and 38 people were seriously injured in a stampede at the Olembe Stadium Yaounde in Cameroon on Monday before the host nation’s round of 16 game in the Africa Cup of Nations against Comoros, the government said in a statement.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the continent’s soccer government body, said in a statement that it was investigating. But the cause of the stampede was so glaring.
You don't throw stadium gates open and give free tickets to fans in a critical game involving the host country. I think the authorities were misguided
So What Happened?
Cameroon is hosting the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 50 years. The Central African nation was meant to host the tournament in 2019 but the event was taken away from it that year and awarded to Egypt because of serious concerns with Cameroon’s preparations, particularly the readiness of its stadiums.
Following a low turnout in the first round games at brand new stadiums built for the continent’s premier men’s soccer tournament, Cameroon authorities have thrown open stadium gates, organized mass transport and given out free tickets to lure fans.
So, fan present at the Olembe stadium hours before the 7:00pm CET game, could have been estimated to be over a hundred thousand in a 60,000 capacity stadium. There are bound to be a stampede at the slightest wave of the teeming crowd.
Olembe Stadium was one of the venues that was under scrutiny. It is the main stadium for the month long AFCON tournament and will stage three more games, including the final on February 6.
Monday’s incident was the second serious blow to the country in the space of a day, after at least 17 people died when a fire set off a series of explosions at a nightclub in Yaounde on Sunday.
Following that incident, Cameroon President Paul Biya urged the local organizing Committee and the country's security personnel to take more precautionary measures in crowd control as the Indomitable lions continue to progress as host of the biggest national sports event in a half century.
Cameroon won Monday’s game 2-1 to move on to the quarterfinals.
