Johannesburg – CAF President Patrice Motsepe has gave an update on the horrific scenes that took place at the Cameroon stadium stampede, where over eight people lost their lives, and 50 were left injured on Monday.
Since last night, the continental federation body has been conducting in-depth investigations, on what could have attributed to the stampede during Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations game against Comoros.
Motsepe said CAF instituted several investigations, and one of their ground investigations discovered that Olembe stadium’s southern entrance was under no proper control, as the crowd surged to gain entry to the stadium.
However, he said, “There will be a committee set up to investigate what happened. And the latest date for this is Friday.
“The next match which is supposed to be held at the Olembe stadium will rather take place at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium,” Motsepe said.
Motsepe furthermore addressed that Cameroon had to reinforce their stadium management in a bid to avoid any traffic volumes.
“The issue is that more people arrived at the stadium, and there was no proper control of the crowd, this led to absolute disorder,” said Motsepe.
Motsepe questioned deficiency by the stadium management team: “My main concern was that the country had to prioritise Covid-19 preventive measures and to ensure people showcase their tests for the virus, but all these were not practiced.”
“There is zero tolerance for circumstances leading to people getting hurt at the stadium.
“There will be urgent measures put in place for this kind of situation not to repeat itself,” urged Motsepe.
Motsepe said the question came on whether today’s match encounters could be postponed, and he confirmed that no game will be postponed, the tournament will continue as per the schedule.
“I consulted with stakeholders, and we took a decision that the tournament should still continue, however, from today we will start with a moment of silence honouring the casualties of the stampede,” said Motsepe.
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