President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has pledged to address the rising problem of violence and hooliganism in African football stadiums.
Recent months have seen a disturbing increase in violent incidents during matches, with some tragically resulting in deaths, including a deadly event in Guinea last December.
In South Africa, over 50 lives were lost in clashes between Esperança and Mamelodi Sundowns fans during a CAF Champions League game.
Speaking to the media in Accra on Friday, Dr. Motsepe reaffirmed CAF’s strong commitment to ensuring stadiums are safe for fans.
“CAF is steadfastly committed to ensuring that stadiums are safe spaces where our football spectators, fans, and supporters can feel comfortable and secure, including from a health perspective,” he stated.
He made it clear that CAF considers any injury, particularly loss of life, at football events to be entirely unacceptable.
“To have a single fan injured at a stadium is something that we do not want to experience under any circumstances,” he said. “And worse still, to have a single fan lose their life is something that we can never take enough precautionary measures against.”
Dr. Motsepe also shared that CAF is conducting a thorough review of global best practices to improve stadium safety across Africa.
“The starting point is to look at what other countries are doing,” Motsepe explained. “We are assessing where and in which stadiums the safest environments have been created for spectators.”
He mentioned that CAF is working closely with safety experts from Europe and beyond to adopt proven methods for crowd control and matchday security.
“There is an ongoing process. The determination and commitment are very deep and steadfast,” he assured.
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