International Football
Factbox: Africa leads in major stadium disasters over the last 40 years
Saturday night’s soccer stadium disaster in Indonesia was one of the world’s worst such incidents. Here is a look at some of the major disasters in soccer stadiums over the last 40 years:
October 2022, Indonesia
At least 125 people died and more than 320 were injured after a football match in East Java involving Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya, authorities said. Arema FC supporters invaded the pitch at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang following a 3-2 defeat and police fired tear gas, triggering a stampede and cases of suffocation.
January 2022, Cameroon
At least eight people died and 38 were injured in a stampede at the Yaounde Olembe Stadium in Cameroon before the host country’s Africa Cup of Nations last-16 game against Comoros.
February 2012, Egypt
Fans rioted at the end of a match between rivals Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in the city of Port Said. At least 73 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, and the Egyptian league was suspended for two years.
March 2009, Ivory Coast
At least 19 people were killed during a stampede at Abidjan’s Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium before a World Cup soccer qualifying match against Malawi.
May 2001, Ghana
Around 126 people were killed in a stampede at Accra’s main soccer stadium when police fired tear gas at rioting fans in one of Africa’s worst soccer disasters.
April 2001, South Africa
At least 43 people were crushed to death when soccer fans tried to force their way into Johannesburg’s huge Ellis Park Stadium midway through a top South African league match.
October 1996, Guatemala
Up to 82 people died and at least 147 were injured when an avalanche of fans tumbled down seats and a flight of stairs at a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica in Guatemala City.
May 1992, France
A stand at Bastia’s Furiani Stadium collapsed before a French Cup semi-final against Olympique de Marseille, killing 18 and injuring more than 2,300.
Last year, the French parliament passed a law banning professional matches taking place in the country on May 5 in memory of the victims.
January 1991, South Africa
Forty-two people died in a stampede during a pre-season game at the Oppenheimer Stadium in the mining town of Orkney between the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates. A Pirates fan had attacked Chiefs supporters in the crowd with a knife.
April 1989, Britain
Ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death in an over-crowded and fenced-in enclosure at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield before an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
One victim died last June, 32 years after suffering severe and irreversible brain damage at Hillsborough.
March 1988, Nepal
A stampede towards locked exits in a hailstorm at Nepal’s national soccer stadium in Kathmandu killed more than 90 fans.
May 1985, Belgium
Thirty-nine fans died and more than 600 were injured in fan violence before the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.
May 1985, Britain
At least 56 people were killed and more than 200 injured when fire broke out in the stands at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford during a third division match against Lincoln City.
October 1982, Russia
Fans were crushed as they left a UEFA Cup tie between Spartak Moscow and Dutch side HFC Haarlem at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Officials from the former Soviet Union did not disclose the tragedy for years. When they did, they gave an official death toll of 66 although the number who died in a crush at one exit could have been as high as 340.
-Reuters
International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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