Tragedy and Craziness in International Soccer

By: Bob | June 4th, 2007

It was a horrible, bizarre and riveting weekend of international soccer. A tragedy involving fans once again tarred the beautiful game, while some fans themselves did little to help the sport.

Twelve spectators in Zambia died after they were crushed to death in a stampede at the stadium following an African Cup of Nations game against Congo. Another 46 were injured at Chiliabombwe stadium. It is sadly another example of a tragedy involving an inadequate stadium and inadequate security.

Sources who witnessed what transpired said the gate at the open wing was unhinged by the surging mob that was rushing to get out of the stadium after the match ended.

The gate fell on some people who were on the other side, which resulted in their being trampled to death and left others injured during the melee.

The late ending of the match worked up most fans that had used public transport to get to the stadium in a frenzy to catch rides back to their hometowns.

Tragedy also hit Togo where 20 of the countries soccer officials, including the country’s top sports minister, died in a plane crash following their country’s 1-0 victory over Sierra Leone.

After their 2-1 loss to Uganda, Nigeria’s players and coaches were pelted with stones and missiles after the final whistle, forcing the police to lock the Nigerian squad in its dressing room for over an hour.

The most bizarre event of the weekend occurred at the end of a EURO 2008 qualifying match between Sweden and Denmark. Sweden had gone ahead 3-0 on the road only to see Denmark storm back to tie the game at 3-3. In the final minutes, Denmark’s Christian Poulsen inexplicably punched Sweden’s Markus Rosenberg in the stomach inside the penalty box. The referee Herbert Fandel, the concert pianist who officiated the Champions League final this year and who was refereeing his final match, was attacked by a drunk Danish fan. Fandel stopped the game, essentially eliminating Denmark from the competition and capping one of the craziest soccer games in the history of crazy games.

The fan, a Dane who lives in Sweden, provides us all with a valuable public service message. If you want to beat someone up, drinking 15-20 beers beforehand is probably not the best way to warm up.