Algerian stadiums become the fans' graveyard
Collapse of a part of the upper terrace of the 5 July Olympic Stadium (runway 13), during a derby match in Algiers, which brought together, on the evening of Saturday, between USMA and MCA, caused the death of two USMA fans, while a third fan was wounded, after a sudden fall from a height of about twenty meters, which raised many questions about the safety of our stadiums, which turned from a scene of pleasure to a real cemetery that took the lives of young fans.
A fan Azib Soufiane, who is 26 years old and lives in the Afia neighborhood in Kouba, was the first who died, just a few hours after the incident, due the eloquent wounds he suffered at the level of the head, then on the morning of Sunday, his friend from the same neighborhood, Darhoum Saifeddine, 21 was perished, at a time faith was merciful with the third fan, Ben Dira Brahem 27 from Bouzeria, who left Beni Massous hospital after being subject to injuries at the shoulder level.
This is not the first time in which the “Olympic” stadium noticed such a fatal accident, as it already noticed last season, during the quarter-finals of Algeria Cup between MCA and CS Constantine same incident, causing the death of an MCA fan Cherif Houthaifia after falling from the lighting.
“Specter of death” at 5 July stadium is related, through the acts of violence that were arising in all matches between fans of different teams, whether from Algiers or other cities, as this large football arena and historic place which is supposed to be a grace for the Algerian Football becomes a curse against it.
Algerian Stadiums, a history full of accidents and disasters
Algerian stadiums have an asset that is full of accidents, disasters and tragic incidents, as some of the stadiums noticed collapses that led to the death of dozens of fans, and perhaps the most famous incident, was in August 20 stadium in Algiers in 1982, when the roof collapsed, during the match between NAHD and MCA, days after the return of the national team at the time from the World Cup 1982 Spain, as ten fans died, as well as dozens were wounded.
Stadiums of Lavignerie in Harrache, Ben Haddad in Kouba, and Zabana in Oran avoided disaster
As the reality of most of the Algerian stadiums, which lack many of the safety requirements, gathering of fans remains in itself a security problem for all the time, and this is because of the continuous anger, pressure by the fans, as the Stadium of November 1st in Harrache (Algiers neighborhood) in 2009 noticed a serious incident during a match between USMHarrache and ESSetif, as the separation fence of the stadium broke and the fans stormed the pitch. Almost the same thing happened at Ben Haddad Stadium during the of season 1980, during the pre-final match between RCKouba and JSKabylie.
Ahmed Zabana Stadium in Oran (western Algeria), noticed last season, during the match between MCOran and USMAlgiers, a dangerous incident due to the large number fans.