ALGIERS: African football must not become a “breeding ground for hoolignanism”, CAF president Issa Hayatou warned yesterday after Cameroonian striker Albert Ebosse died when he was hit by a projectile during an Algerian league match.
Ebosse, 24, had scored the lone goal for his club JS Kabylie in a home match in what turned out to be a 2-1 defeat against USM Alger, on the second day of the Algerian championship.
The Cameroon forward was hit by an object thrown from the stands following his team’s loss and was declared dead after he was rushed to a hospital at Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital Algiers, where the match took place.
Fans had started throwing objects from the stands inside the Tizi Ouzou Stadium after the match as the players were returning to their changing room.
Hayatou, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF, the sport’s governing body on the continent), expressed his condolences.
“My thoughts go out to the family and friends of this young man who enjoyed his job peacefully and went further to pursue his passion for football abroad,” Hayatou said in a statement.
Hayatou cautioned that “African football cannot be the breeding ground for hooliganism whatsoever”.
“We expect exemplary sanctions to be taken against this grave act of violence.
Violence has no place in African football in particular and sports in general.
Ebosse joined JS Kabylie in 2013 and was top scorer in the 2013-2014 Algerian championship.
The Algerian interior ministry ordered an investigation to search for the culprit.
The Algerian National Professional League also ordered the Tizi Ouzou Stadium shut and called an extraordinary board meeting today to investigate the incident.
Also present will be officials from JS Kabylie, match referees and match commissioner.
AFP
