CAF ratifies decision to relocate games after deadly stampede

The Confederation of Africa Football has ratified the decision to relocate some matches scheduled to take place at the Olembe Stadium to Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium. The ratification came following the decision of CAF president, Patrice Motsepe to announce during an emergency press conference that the quarter-final games of the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations […]

The Confederation of Africa Football has ratified the decision to relocate some matches scheduled to take place at the Olembe Stadium to Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium.

The ratification came following the decision of CAF president, Patrice Motsepe to announce during an emergency press conference that the quarter-final games of the ongoing 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will be played in another stadium.

It will be recalled that eight lives were lost during a stampede that occurred during Cameroon vs Comoros game at the Olembe Stadium, Yaounde on Monday

In a meeting held with the CAF Organising “It was agreed that due to the incident at Olembé Stadium that resulted in the death of eight spectators and several other spectators being injured and the decisions of the CAF Disciplinary Board, the next match that was scheduled for the Olembé Stadium will not take place until CAF and the Local Organising Committee have received the full report of the Investigation Committee (into the Olembé incident) indicating the circumstances and events that led to the injury and death of spectators at the Olembé Stadium.

“The CAF AFCON Organising Committee also requires the assurance and guarantee that appropriate and adequate interventions and measures have been implemented to ensure that a similar incident will not occur at the Olembé Stadium during the TotalEnergies AFCON Cameroon 2021,” CAF said.

The matches to be relocated to Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium are quarter-final matches involving Egypt and Morocco as well as Senegal and Equatorial Guinea scheduled to take place on 30 January 2022.

The other match scheduled is the semi-final scheduled to take place on 2 February 2022 involving the winners between Burkina Faso/Tunisia and Egypt/Morocco.