African Champions Cup completes violent year

Rioting, missile-throwing and a bizarre self-inflicted wound by a desperate goalkeeper in the Champions Cup final in Accra on Sunday completed a year of violence in African soccer.

Sunday's match, in wich Ghana's Hearts of Oak beat Esperance of Tunisia 3-1, was the latest of three African finals to be marred by fighting, both on and off the pitch.





Hearts of Oak fans pelted match officials and police with objects from the stands, while police responded with teargas, sparking a pitch invasion. Amid the confusion, Esperance goalkeeper Chokri El Ouaer cut himself with a sharp object and collapsed on the pitch with blood flowing from a head wound in a failed attempt to get the match abandoned.


The chaos resulted in an 18-minute stoppage, almost matching the delay during last year's final in Tunis. On both occasions, Esperance players were involved in fighting during the showpiece final, which is beamed live around the continent. Last December, they fought with opponents Raja Casablanca in the second leg of the final. However, the Moroccan team, who had two players set off in the game, had provoked the incidents. Tunisian police were accused of assaulting Raja players during the melee.

Last month's final of the African women's championship in South Africa was abandoned in the second half after rioting in the crowd. Fans threw objects at officials after hosts South Africa conceded a second goal to Nigeria, who were awarded the trophy when the match was abandoned. In July, 13 people died in Zimbabwe after a stampede of fans attempting to flee teargas fired by police during the World Cup qualifier against South Africa in Harare.


On Saturday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced a 10,000 dollar fine for Algerian club JS Kabylie after the chaotic scenes when they won the CAF Cup earlier this month. Fans invaded the pitch in Algiers and stole the kit of the losing Egyptian team Ismailia, who were fined 5,000 dollars for refusing to receive their silver medals.


The African Nations Cup finals in Nigeria earlier this year also witnessed several incidents, including police firing teargas at fans and a pitch invasion during the home team's quarter-final against Senegal.


Much of the violence is a result of poor organisation and overcrowding in ageing stadiums. CAF frequently fine clubs and associations for poor organisation of matches, but teams and federations are rarely banned for violent incidents.