CAF boss Patrice Motsepe saddened by Olembe Stadium stampede incident

The President of the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), Dr. Patrice Motsepe has expressed his sadness at the stampede incident at the Olembe Stadium on Monday night.

The unfortunate incident happened when fans pushed to enter the stadium to watch the Round 16 encounter between Cameroon and Comoros.

Through the incident, many people sustained various degrees of injuries with at least five people being confirmed to have died.

At a press conference later on Tuesday, CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe said his outfit takes responsibility for the stampede incident.

“Legally, the organising committee are responsibility for safety and security, but we’re their partners, and we have to make sure of it. The last thing I’m interested in is saying that it’s someone else’s responsibility and not mine.

“We have to take collective responsibilities and deal with the legalities later. I have to be absolutely satisfied that what happened will never happen again, absolutely never happen again,” the CAF President stressed.

He further lamented, “When people lose their lives, you must be angry, impatient, ask questions and demand guarantees that it will never happen again.

“This is why there’s no tolerance — zero tolerance — around the circumstances [of Monday’s tragedy].”

Meanwhile, it has been agreed that a minute of silence will be observed in the remaining matches of the 2021 TotalEnergies AFCON for the victims of the stampede.