FIFA move quickly to ease World Cup fears after 15 are injured in crush at Tembisa friendly

FIFA moved fast to calm safety concerns in South Africa after yesterday’s crush in Tembisa left 15 people – including a policeman – in hospital.

For the first time since the stars, fans and media began to arrive in South Africa, the headline writers turned on the hosts just four days before the big World Cup kick-off on June 11. The incident dominated the front pages after fans struggled to gain access to the Makhulong Stadium to see Nigeria’s warm-up game against North Korea.

I was on England’s talkSPORT radio last night and again this morning attempting to point out that the 15,000 capacity venue was not suitable for a game involving a nation with a huge migrant population, many of them living in the sprawl of Tembisa, not five miles from where I am writing this article in Centurion.

Last week in Polokwane I was told by a high-ranking official here that Nigeria’s pre-World Cup preparations had been “slightly chaotic” and that they were using a private company to organise this game. The problems came when Nigeria scored the first of their three goals in a 3-0 win... and the match was stopped for five minutes when a safety rail broke in the venue.

England have said they will “up security” for the friendly against local club Platinum Stars at the Maruleng Stadium this afternoon – but their stadium, though also not a World Cup venue – is a brand new structure with a 20,000 capacity where no such problems will occur.

FIFA point out they had “nothing to do with the ticketing of this game” where 8,000 free tickets were handed out, leading to a crush at the gates.

The FIFA Statement said "We have been informed by the South African Police Services about the incidents which have taken place.

“FIFA and the Organising Committee would like to first wish a prompt recovery to those who have been affected by these incidents.

"In addition, we would like to reiterate that this friendly match has no relation whatsoever with the operational organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, for which we remain fully confident.

"Contrary to some media reports, FIFA had nothing to do with the ticketing of this game."

The South Africa Police, fully in control when I saw South Africa beat Denmark 1-0 on Saturday with 40,000 going crazy at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville, said: "Tickets were apparently being handed out by the teams outside the stadium but a number of fans wanted to enter without them.

"It would seem that there was also some confusion among the crowd as to the ticketing system which led to disruptive behaviour on the part of the crowd.

“We immediately started implementing crowd management measures but the crowd became unruly and pushed against the gates.

"One police official was seriously wounded when he was trampled by the crowd, one police official was slightly injured but remained on duty. The police did all in their power to prevent fatalities and minimise injuries."

My experiences over the past months – with both fans and police – suggest there will be no such trouble when the World Cup proper begins with exclusion zones around stadiums and strict stewarding in force.

But the whole affair raises ghosts of April, 2001, when 43 people died in a crush outside the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. Yesterday was not a good day for the World Cup.

In Magaliesburg, a tiny village between Pretoria and Rustenburg, mounted police and riot squads were needed to hold back 20,000 Portuguese South Africans attempting to gain a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo and Co arriving in the country.

If South Africa didn’t quite know what World Cup fever was, they do now.

Neal Collins (nealcol) is in South Africa to promote his first novel A GAME APART, currently No15 on Amazon’s African best-sellers. For more information go to www.nealcollins.co.uk. To see video footage of yesterday’s events in Magaliesburg, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nIz0GAAlzc.

South Africa hit hard by World Cup fever in Tembisa and Magaliesburg

WORLD CUP fever hit South Africa hard yesterday with a stampede at one pre-tournament friendly leaving several injured while 20,000 brought the tiny village of Magaliesburg to a standstill for the arrival of Portugal.

The more serious incident occurred before the warm-up game between Nigeria and North Korea which left many fans trampled underfoot at the Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa, which houses around 10,000 fans.

In the scenic Magaliesburg mountains, the rush to see Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portugal side arrive in South Africa saw riot police and mounted officers move in to clear access.

Both situations derive from huge migrant populations – South Africa is home to a huge Nigerian population since democracy dawned in 1994 while the nation has long been home to a significant population of Portuguese descent.

The Oliver Tambo International airport near Johannesburg was mobbed by nearly 5,000 fans who threatened to overwhelm security as Portugal landed yesterday morning. They lined the long road to the team’s Magaliesburg base at Valley Lodge and their training pitch at Bekker school in a solid red tide.

Only 2,000 tickets to Portugal’s first training session were handed out – mostly to locals - while 20,000 attempted to gain access. Though local restaurants and bars may have achieved record profits, there were brief flare-ups between fans and security as the session – described as “open to the public” in the local press – drew unprecedented crowds.

Traffic jams stretched for miles towards both Johannesburg and Pretoria, where large Portuguese-South African communities have developed, augmented by the arrival of countrymen from Angola and Mocambique.

Though I did my best to bond with the local force (see picture) one fan screamed at the riot police: “You are showing no respect for the Portuguese people, we deserve to see our heroes. We’ve been on the road two hours. The people with tickets don’t even have Portugal shirts.”

While scuffles broke out, security and riot police attempted to defuse tension by allowing some school parties and young children in ticketless to see their side train at 4.30pm. Most were happy simply to see the team bus drive past.

Portugal’s three group games are all sold out – their clash against Brazil in Durban on June 25 was the first game of this World Cup to run out of tickets.

In Tembisa, Japtha Mombelo, bleeding from the head after the crush, said: "I fell down and people just fell over me.The crowd wasoverpowering. The police have told me to stay around and they will organise an ambulance but I am still waiting."

The first rush came when the gates opened to allow fans into the stadium. Police soon closed the gates, but when they were reopened, a second rush occurred, with more people falling and being run over.

Princess Mbali, wearing a South African shirt, said: “They were just stepping on us. I thought I was dying. I was at the bottom."

Sixteen were taken to hospital as Nigeria carved out a 3-1 win.