The stampede and resulting injuries amongst soccer fans at an exhibition match between Nigeria and North Korea prompted football authorities to put some better security measures in place for the games in the upcoming World Cup. At least 14 people, including one police officer, were injured in the crush trying to get through the stadium gates at Makhulong on Sunday.
FIFA, football’s chief governing board, maintains that the responsibility for the melee lies with the Nigerian security organization, and that FIFA had nothing to do with arranging the ‘friendly’ match.
The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, said his organization takes this warning very seriously, and assured members of the media that this sort of thing will not happen during the World Cup games.
The stampede was apparently caused chiefly by the distribution of free tickets at the stadium just prior to the match. Fans both with and without tickets mobbed the gates once they were opened, and police and security guards managed to get them closed temporarily, but another stampede occurred when they reopened a short time later.
FIFA emphasized that they will exercise greater caution in several respects, including pre-game distribution of tickets and keeping a wider perimeter around the stadiums where World Cup matches are played. Presumably, no one without a valid ticket will be able to get closer than 40 metres from the gates, and there will be more entrances to keep bottlenecks from forming. Fans will also be warned to get there on time or early, and leave their cars parked elsewhere.