Sports

Two killed, scores injured in stampede during Benin-Senegal AFCON qualifiers

Published

10 months ago

June 19, 2023

Two persons were confirmed killed and several others injured in a stampede during an AFCON qualifying match between Benin Republic and Senegal at the Stade Général Mathieu-Kérékou in Cotonou on Saturday.

According to local media in the country, the match-day five qualifier for the Ivory Coast 2024 Africa Cup of Nations turned into a tragedy after the Sports Ministry threw the gates of the stadium open which saw a deluge of fans struggling to get into the arena leading to the stampede.

A local sports journalist, Evrard Djissou, who spoke on the tragic incident on Monday, said the sports federation should be blamed for the stampede.

“It’s a deplorable and sad situation because we’re talking about deaths and injuries. People who left home to support the Benin team never came back. We never wanted that to happen.

“We have to have the courage to say that the organisation was not up to scratch. In the stand where the scenes took place, there was an overflow,” Djissou noted.

Survivors say before the kick off of the match involving the Cheetahs of Benin and Senegal’s Teranga Lions, the gates were thrown open for fans to cheer the home team to victory, a move which later back fired.

“Minutes before the kickoff, public attention shifted from the football players to the stadium’s stands due to an inrush of fans,” a media outlet reported.

“Those at the entrance tried to force their way in, causing a stampede as they collided with those who had just entered.

“People were dropping like flies. Many were trampled, asphyxiated and some stuck to the railings,” an eyewitness told journalists.

“I saw people come in en masse. When the scene started, the stewards downstairs, instead of warning their colleagues outside to close the door, were there advising people to go next door while they were trapped,” he added.

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.