AFRICA/GUINEA - Dozens of people killed after a stampede at a football stadium

Conakry (Agenzia Fides) - "There is still no precise information on the number of dead (the government says 56, ed.) and wounded in yesterday's drama at the stadium," said the President of the Episcopal Conference of Guinea and Bishop of N'Zérékoré Raphaël Balla Guilavogui to Fides.
Yesterday, December 1, dozens of people died at the N'Zérékoré stadium in the south-east of the Republic of Guinea, according to local and international press reports, while trying to escape from clashes between opposing football fans. Bishop Raphaël Balla Guilavogui confirms the media reports. "During the match between the Labé team and N'Zérékoré, riots broke out due to the referee's decision, which one side considered unfair," said the bishop. "The players' protests led to the match being suspended for about twenty minutes before the restart. While the score was 0-0, a goal by the Nzérékoré team contested by the Labé team sparked the riots. When the players turned against the referee, the fans began throwing stones into the stadium. The police, in an attempt to contain the fans' anger, used tear gas, causing panic among the spectators who, as they tried to flee, caused a stampede in which several people were crushed." The match was the final of a football tournament named after General Mamady Doumbouya, head of the military junta that seized power in September 2021 by overthrowing President Alpha Condé. In recent weeks, several such tournaments have taken place, part of a campaign organized by the military junta ruling Guinea, led by Mamady Doumbouya, to support Doumbouya's possible candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections. In the elections, which were supposed to take place later this year, members of the current military junta were not allowed to run.
The elections are now scheduled for next year and Doumbouya seems to have the intention of running for President. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 2/12/2024)

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