19 trampled to death in Abidjan stadium – 'because of corruption'

Nineteen people were killed in a stampede outside a stadium in the capital of the Ivory Coast on Sunday. One of our Observers in the country, who was at the scene with his camera, told us that corrupt police forces and stadium staff are at fault for the catastrophe.

UPDATE (3.04.09) : The figure originally given out by news agencies has been amended. Nineteen people died, not 22.

Christian is an Ivorian film-maker who works in New Delhi. He was on a return visit to Abidjan.

I went to the game between Malawi and the Ivory Coast with friends. The stadium's got a capacity of 35,000, but I'd say there was almost double that number inside. This happened because of corruption. Let me explain. The police and stadium staff stop you at the entrance, only letting those through who hand over a bribe. Even if you have a ticket it's impossible to go through. You need to give between 100 and 300 CFA [West African] francs [15 - 45 euro centimes] to get in.

Tickets for the match were supposed to be pre-booked only so that the audience number would be capped. But people came anyway because they knew they'd be able to offer a bribe at the entrance. The fact that there was only one barrier 200km from the stadium supposedly keeping non-ticket holders out, is proof enough. Nobody was turned away.

Those who did have tickets were really annoyed. They saw people getting in easily and started pushing against the stadium railings, which subsequently collapsed. People were getting trampled on but the situation was still under control. It was after when the police let of smoke bombs [1:05 into the video] that it deteriorated. I was just next to them when they let them off. I ran away so that I could carry on filming. A policeman tried to take my camera but I refused.

What shocked me was that when I watched the news that evening, the national TV barely mentioned the incident. Here, everyone's talking about the responsibility of the police and the Ivorian Federation for Football. We're waiting for the results from the investigation."

Comments

Ivory Coast Football

Submitted by Patrick F (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 15:54.

Other than the police behavior, one has to ask why a person would want to continue trying to get into a stadium that is already full. That is Darwinian in itself.

I have lived for nearly 50 years. I have learned never to be surprised at the activities of football audiences worldwide. I believe these people could learn a bit about patience and manners. We don't see this with the Americans and their sporting events... Once in a while their is a small fight with drunkards but that is about all.

I would think in the Ivory Coast in particular some good business people would want to build a bigger stadium to increase profits - seeing as demand is so high.

I blame FIFA

Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2009 - 17:09.

Quit frankly, FIFA is so incompetent! That organization needs to be reformed. There are too many violence and hate going on on several stadiums accross the world. FIFA needs to step up to the plate.

Those young people who died are football fans! They just wanted to support their team. Unfortunatelly, they lost their lifes due to incompetance of those higher up.

Long life to African football and its colorfull fans!

fans ?

Submitted by ChrisVIII (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 11:39.

They might like soccer but they are not real fans. Fans play by the rule on the field and in the stadium. It's easy to blame the FIFA.
Sure it's a very sad accident, the police has certainly done mistakes but the cause of it is more deeply rooted. It's the behavior of the people in a whole that has to be questionned, the fact that they agree to corrupt. It's easy to complain about corruption and those who accept bribes, but I think the person offering the bribe for something as secondary as a soccer game is also at fault.

The problem goes beyond a stampede in stadium, no matter the number of victims.

Fan Behavior

Submitted by Patrick F (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 16:01.

This comment is correct. It is more of a fan problem then a corrupt police problem. In a business transaction it is the customer that drives the outcome and continuance of the business... In this case bribery.

Let's look at illegal drugs for another example. If there were no customers there would be no sellers. There are sellers because there are customers willing to act illegally in an illegal business, thereby driving the machine to become bigger and more corrupt.

BULL SH..-----T..

Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 17:36.

You are wrong. Remember, human beings are prone to corruption. You are saying that it is an issue of supply-demand which leads to corruption and therefore tragedies. It is a natural thing for a person to go for a quick and easy path.

So having bigger stadiums has not solve these types of tragedies either. Many European clubs have big stadiums but this type of events continue to occur.Last year we saw it happening in South America.

Take a look at the current economic crisis! Wall street is full of people who graduated from American top schools. They took people live savings and run away. Subsequently, they set the global economic crisis! If they were mechanisms in place to check their transactions and regulate them, this would not has happened. Like i said, poor leadership is to blame!

FIFA needs to reforms and set touch sanctions and strick regualtions in every football game under his juridiction. A toucher control would prevent corruption and therefore tragedies. I am 30 years old African football fan.

I bet your 50years of age has not tought you anything good. Your thinking process is wrong! Darwinism? you bechat!!

You are not offering any solution!

Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 12:53.

Look. What you said does not make sense.This is not African issue. This is seen world wide. What would you say about those white supremacist fans accross Europe. We see them in every soccer game or sport acctivities in Europe.

Is it due to corruption? I don't think so! It is the consequence of poor leadership within the governing body. FIFA can take the lead and beging striking it down.

I aggree with the first comment. FIFA needs tro step up to the plate and lead.

19 trampled to death instadium stampede

Submitted by weriweri (not verified) on Mon, 06/04/2009 - 17:02.

Such things unfortunately happen, not only in Africa, but the world over. In 1985, in the match between Liverpool and Juventus, it happened , leading to the death of several mostly Juuventus supporters and this event led to the banning of English clubs from European competition for at least ten years. It happended in South AFRICA in a game between Orlando Pirates and Kaiser Chiefs. It happened in Zimbabwe in 2000, after Delron Buckley scored Bafana Bafana's second goal.It happened again in a game pitting hearts of Oak and a team from Ivory Coast. Fan and police and administrator behaviour is often deplorable during high tension matches. Sports psychologists might assist, but for all I know finger pointing will get no one anywhere.Let humankind learn from such mistakes and try not to repeat them in future.