Afcon match moved to another stadium after deadly crush

YAOUNDE: The next Africa Cup of Nations match scheduled for Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium, where eight people were killed in a stampede on Monday, will be moved to another venue, the Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe said on Tuesday.

The stadium was next scheduled to host a quarterfinal tie on Sunday but it will now be played at Yaounde’s Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium.

It is the match between the winners of Tuesday’s last-16 tie between Malawi and Morocco and victors of Wednesday’s clash between Egypt and the Ivory Coast.

The newly-completed Olembe Stadium is still scheduled to host a semifinal on February 3 and the final on February 6 but Motsepe suggested that unless local authorities in Cameroon guaranteed improved security, they too could be moved.

Motsepe said CAF were asking for an explanation from Cameroon’s organising committee and government as to the cause of the stampede and why gates at the stadium, that should have been opened, were closed.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motesepe Patrice Motesepe observes a minute of silence before a press conference on January 25, 2022 at Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde. Eight people were killed and many more injured in a crush outside a Cameroonian football stadium on January 24, 2022 ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations match. Crowds attempted to enter through a southern entrace at Olembe stadium in the capital Yaounde to watch the host nation play Comoros. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on January 25, 2022 at the entrance of Olembe stadium in Yaounde shows barriers on the ground at the scene of the stampede. Eight people were killed and many more injured in a crush outside a Cameroonian football stadium on January 24, 2022 ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations match. Crowds attempted to enter through a southern entrace at Olembe stadium in the capital Yaounde to watch the host nation play Comoros. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)

"We want urgent steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again and a report by Friday to explain what went wrong," Motsepe told a news conference.

"Clearly there were deficiencies, failures at weaknesses. There were problems that should have been foreseen.

"The safety and security of spectators has to be our primary duty and obligation."

Motsepe said there were thousands of additional spectators who had gone to the stadium to "take in the atmosphere".

"There was a gate closed for inexplicable reasons," he said after visiting the site of the stampede, suggesting had it been opened the stamped could have been avoided.

Motsepe said a postponement of Tuesday’s matches at the tournament had been discussed but it was decided they would go ahead.

There are two matches scheduled for Tuesday in Bafoussam and at the Ahmadou Ahidjou Stadium in Yaounde.

A total of 38 were also injured when fans stormed the stadium hosting the Cup of Nations match between Cameroon and Comoros.

Motsepe said he had visited the injured and that only seven remain hospitalised.

Images shared on social media, which could not immediately authenticate, showed a panicked crowd trying to squeeze through a narrow entrance gate at Olembe stadium.

One video showed dozens of fans scrambling over the stadium fence as a police officer walked by. -- Reuters