Latest soccer tragedy is timely warning to Fifa in the build-up to World Cup

2009/04/01 Soccer Fever, with Chumani Bambani
IT is never pleasant witnessing or hearing about a tragedy on the sporting field. Losing a game is not the end of the world. However, relegation from Premiership football will be considered a major tragedy for Bay United‘s faithful supporters and Eastern Cape soccer people in general should that happen at the end of the current Premier Soccer League season.
March 29, 2009, April 11, 2001, and April 15, 1989, could be meaningless days to some, but to others these were days that were covered by a dark cloud in football history.
Ivory Coast‘s emphatic 5-0 drubbing over Malawi at Abidjan‘s Felix Houphouet- Boigny Stadium was overshadowed by the deaths of 22 Ivorian fans and injury to 132 people due to a stampede.
This brings back bad memories of the deaths of 43 people at Ellis Park on April 11, 2001, during a game between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. This was the worst disaster in South African sporting history.
Then there were the 93 people killed during the April 15, 1989, FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield‘s Hillsborough Stadium.
One should also not forget two of the worst stampedes in sporting history. One occurred on October 20, 1982, during a European Cup clash between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem where 340 fans were reportedly killed, and another during an Olympic qualifier on May 24, 1964, between South American arch-rivals Peru and Argentina when a late Peru goal was disallowed, which resulted in a riot that led to the deaths of 318 people.
These are just a few of the many disastrous incidents that have occurred in soccer stadiums and have remained etched in the memories of many soccer followers. These are incidents that need to be avoided at all costs.
The incident at the stadium in Abidjan brings to the fore the Ellis Park tragedy, which will surely make the soccer mother body, Fifa, keep a close eye on South Africa‘s capabilities of hosting the 2010 World Cup, as both incidents occurred as a result of overcrowding at the venues.
The excuse by our Local Organising Committee that the slow sales of tickets for the tournament “because South Africans are used to purchasing their tickets on match- day” could see similar incidents escalating during the tournament and the Confederations Cup. Football committees, especially in Africa, need to shape up.
Bay United‘s Jimmy Zakazaka, who represented Malawi during the Abidjan clash, said: “We didn‘t know until the end of the game that there were people killed.”
The main question that has been raised is why are high- profile matches allowed to take place at venues that do not meet the requirements?
Who must take the blame? Could it be Fifa, who are now calling for an inquiry into the tragedy? They were responsible for the game taking place at the venue in the first place. Or is it the police who provoked the panic by tear- gassing people who had nowhere to run?
None of these questions will bring back any of the 22 lives lost. Fifa, however, need to look at ways and means to ensure that our soccer stadiums are not turned into graveyards.
EASTER weekend will see plenty of soccer action in the Eastern Cape. A large number of local clubs are preparing for the Continental Tyre NASB Easter tournament as well as the Eleven Attackers FC Easter tournament in Somerset East.