{"id":766466,"date":"2022-01-26T11:03:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T11:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/01\/26\/fifa-sends-deepest-condolences-after-deaths-at-olembe\/"},"modified":"2022-01-26T11:03:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T11:03:27","slug":"fifa-sends-deepest-condolences-after-deaths-at-olembe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/01\/26\/fifa-sends-deepest-condolences-after-deaths-at-olembe\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifa sends ‘deepest condolences’ after deaths at Olembe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Olembe Stadium held the Nations Cup opening ceremony and is due to host the tournament’s final on 6 February
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Football\u2019s world governing body Fifa has sent its \u201cdeepest condolences\u201d to families and friends of the victims of a crash outside a stadium at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

At least\u00a0eight people were killed and 38 injured\u00a0as fans struggled to get access to a match between the hosts and Comoros in Yaounde.<\/p>\n

The Olembe Stadium has a capacity of 60,000 but was not meant to be more than 80% full because of Covid-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n

However, match officials were quoted as saying that as many as 50,000 people were trying to attend Monday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFifa sends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims who lost their lives following the tragic incident that took place at Olembe Stadium,\u201d\u00a0the statement from Fifa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thoughts and prayers of the global football community are with the victims, the ones who have been injured in this incident, and all the staff of both the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and the Cameroonian Football Association (Fecafoot) at this difficult moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nations Cup organisers Caf is investigating the situation and in \u201cconstant communication\u201d with the Cameroonian government and the local organizing committee.<\/p>\n

Caf said its general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba visited injured supporters in hospital on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Former Cameroon midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba attended the last-16 game,\u00a0which Cameroon won 2-1,\u00a0and said news of the incident was \u201cheartbreaking\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very shocking as people were coming to the stadium to watch football, and people have died,\u201d the 40-year-old, who had a spell at Manchester United from 2003 to 2005, told the BBC World Service,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were inside and suddenly we heard people had died outside the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the worst possible news because Cameroon did everything to play the tournament in Cameroon and built big stadiums. I think for me it is very sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be difficult (for people to focus back on the tournament) because families will cry. Some people go to the stadium to support Cameroon, to support their team play, but it is the worst thing to happen to Cameroon.\u201d<\/p>\n

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