AFCON 2023: Six Guinea fans die celebrating win over Gambia
Six fans of the Guinean national team died amidst the celebration of the country’s first win in the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Guinean Football Federation, Feguifoot, told BBC Sports Africa on Monday that the incident happened on the streets of Conakry as fans were wildly celebrating their country’s 1–0 victory over The Gambia.
Fans all over the country celebrated by riding cars and motorcycles in the streets, with some fans rejoicing on car bonnets and others hanging on motorcycles.
Guinea Football Federation media manager Amadou Makadji said six people were confirmed dead in the celebrations.
The Guinean football FA has appealed to the general public to celebrate in a measured fashion to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.
“What is important is that our fans and the public celebrate in a very measured fashion,” Makadji said. “They have to be very careful not to put themselves in danger because the goal of football is to bring joy and not leave families bereaved. We do not want deaths to mourn, so we call on everyone to celebrate but to take care of themselves so that nothing happens to them.”
“Guinea is a country where people are very, very passionate about football, and they experience football like nowhere else in the world,” Makadji added.
Guinea football legend Pascal Feindouno, who helped the team reach three consecutive quarter-finals between 2004 and 2008, joined the call for calm among fans.
Feindouno explained that the news of fans’ deaths could destabilise the team, causing them to drop points.
He urged the public to calmly support the national team without doing anything that would lead to the death of one another or oneself.
Following the victory over the Gambia, Guinea now sits in second place in Group C with four points.
They are two points behind defending champions Senegal but are three points ahead of Cameroon and four points ahead of the Gambia, who are at the bottom of the table.
Guinea will face Senegal on Tuesday to secure a place in the knock-out stages.
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