dozens dead in clashes during a football match, according to doctors

Dozens of people died on Sunday 1^is December, in clashes between supporters during a football match in N'Zérékoré, in the south-east of Guinea, medical sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Prime Minister confirmed that “victims are recorded”. Angry supporters also vandalized and set fire to the city police station, according to witnesses.

“There are around a hundred dead. Bodies are lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital. Others are lying on the floor in the corridors. The morgue is full”a doctor at the regional hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. “There are dozens of deaths”according to another doctor.

Bah Oury, Prime Minister of Guinea, reacted on X: “The government deplores the incidents which marred the football match between the teams of Labé and N'Zérékoré this afternoon in N'Zérékoré. During the stampede, victims were recorded. The regional authorities are hard at work to restore calm and serenity among the population. The government is monitoring developments in the situation and reiterates its call for calm so that hospital services are not hampered in providing first aid to the injured. The moral authorities of the city are asked to also contribute to the restoration of social tranquility. The government will issue a press release when it has collected all relevant information on these unfortunate incidents. »

“It all started from a challenge to a decision by the referee. Supporters then invaded the playing area”a witness told AFP on condition of anonymity for his safety. According to the press, it was a tournament dedicated to the head of the junta, General Mamadi Doumbouya, who came to power after a coup d'état in September 2021 and who has since become president. This “Refoundation tournament” was organized by the “Alliance of young forest leaders” group.

Such tournaments have proliferated in recent weeks in Guinea, in what is seen as support for a possible candidacy of Mr. Doumbouya in the next presidential election.

Political unrest

The junta initially pledged, under international pressure, to give way to elected civilians before the end of 2024. It has since indicated that it would break its promise. Several of Mr. Doumbouya's representatives recently said they were in favor of his candidacy in the next presidential election. But the “transition charter” established by the junta shortly after the coup d’état requires that no member of the junta can run “neither in national elections nor in local elections”.

The authorities had indicated at the end of September that all the votes leading to the return of constitutional order would be held in 2025. At the end of July they presented a preliminary draft Constitution with the objective of having it voted on by referendum before the end of the 'year. But no date has yet been set for submitting to the population this text rejected by the main opposition parties and civil society organizations.

The junta seeks to silence all forms of dissent, banning demonstrations and critical media. Many opposition leaders have been arrested, indicted before judges or driven into exile. At the beginning of July, two leaders of a dissolved citizens' movement which demanded the return of civilians to power disappeared.