Guinea Stadium Stampede: Eyewitness recounts how political influence added fuel to the fire

A coach has shared a harrowing account of chaos and tragedy during a football match that ended in disaster.

On Sunday, a tragic stampede at a football stadium in N’Zerekore, Guinea, claimed the lives of 56 people and left countless others injured during the final match of a tournament hosted in honor of President Mamady Doumbouya.

The final match between teams from Labé and N’Zerekore was held at a packed stadium, where thousands of fans had gathered to cheer on their respective sides.

According to Saliou Diallo, coach of the Labé team, the atmosphere was lively and spirited for much of the game until a series of decisions by the referee ignited unrest in the stands.

“I thought I was on a football pitch where the atmosphere reigns as always when everything changed into drama in a rout that does not say its name,” coach Diallo recounted, as reported by Sursautguinee and quoted by Guineefoot.Info.

“Nobody knew where to go or where to escape.”

The situation began to unravel in the last quarter of the match and as Diallo described, the referee’s decision to issue two red cards against the Labé team within a short span caused tensions to flare.

Intervention by Minister Félix Lamah led to the cancellation of one of the red cards, and the match resumed.

With the score tied at 0-0 and four minutes of added time played, a controversial penalty was awarded to the N’Zérékoré team, sparking outrage among the fans.

“The ball came into our half, my defender kicked the ball back to the center,” Diallo explained.

“That’s when the referee whistled a penalty with the argument that the player from the opposing camp had been touched. It was at the moment when everyone was trying to understand what was happening that stones started to rain down from everywhere on the field.”

Chaos erupted as fans stormed the pitch, hurling stones and other objects.

Security forces responded with tear gas, further escalating the panic. The stampede began as thousands of spectators, including women and children, scrambled to escape through limited exits.

“The big gate was closed, the small door was the only recourse,” Diallo recounted.

“Many wanted to go through there. With the stampede, the jostling, many lost their lives.”

Amid the commotion, Diallo and his team sought safety in the middle of the pitch, alongside government officials and security personnel. They were trapped as the violence unfolded around them.

“We stayed in the stadium until late at night under the protection of the security agents,” he said.

“Finally, they told us to leave, that they could no longer stay there. The police station was set on fire next door, a security vehicle targeted. We had to play dead and lie down for a while for fear of being attacked directly.”

What followed was a haunting scene of loss and despair.

“It is the first time in my life to see more than 30 bodies lined up in a stadium while others are collected for the morgue,” Diallo shared, his voice heavy with grief.

“Imagine people who have never seen a dead person, and they see dozens lined up.”

The tragedy has left families shattered and a nation grappling with questions about how a celebration of sport turned so deadly.

“If we knew that the end was going to be like this, we would have given up and lost the match because there is no reason for a person to die because of football,” Diallo lamented.