The Equatorial Guinea Football
Association has banned supporters in Malabo from entering the Estadio de Malabo
where the third place match between hosts Equatorial Guinea and DR Congo will
be played tomorrow.
This comes after some Black Stars
players and Ghanaian fans were attacked by the Equato-Guinean fans at the
stadium during their semi final game yesterday.
The obviously disgruntled fans of
Equatorial Guinea threw bottles, stones, glasses and other materials onto the
pitch while the match was ongoing after Ghana’s Captain Dede Ayew scored a
brilliant third goal.
The chaos caused a hold up of the
match for over 30 minutes while authorities tried their best to calm the angry
fans. Even the players at a point pleaded with the fans to stay calm and allow
the match to proceed but all these fell on deaf ears.
Speaking on Asempa FM this morning,
Vice president of the Equatorial Guinea FA, Pedro Ondo Abeku said
investigations have begun into the matter.
He added that supporters in Malabo
have been banned from going to watch the finals.
He apologised for the unfortunate
scenario adding that what happened yesterday was the first in the history of
the country.
He said “what i would like to do is
apologise really on behalf of the Equatorial Guinea Football Association. Our
supporters have never behaved like this, so I don’t know what happened
yesterday.”
The Vice President however said
because the country had a limited time to plan adequately they could not put in
measures which would have prevented such occurrences.
He said special security measures
are being put in place to ensure that the final match between Ghana and Ivory
Coast will be safer for both players and supporters.
Some soccer fans here in Ghana are
however worried about the violence which erupted in Malabo.
Those who spoke to Joy News have
asked that some form of protection be provided for the Ghanaian delegation in
Equatorial Guinea.
Joy News’ Delali Atiase reports from
the Black Stars hotel in
Malabo that calm has been restored. City authorities are clearing debris from
yesterday’s chaos.
He said CAF will later today hold an
executive committee meeting on what happened for a possible punitive action to
be taken against Equatorial Guinea.
Some Ghanaians who got injured
during the chaos, he said are doing well and responding to treatment.
Ghanaian residents in the country –
especially those who own businesses are unable to open their shops or go about
their normal duties as they used to, they are living in a state of panic, he
said.
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