“It all started from a challenge to a referee’s decision”: in Guinea, dozens of deaths after clashes during a football match

“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 from the regional hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“There are dozens of deaths”said another doctor. Angry supporters vandalized and set fire to the N'Zérékoré police station, according to witnesses. The government remained silent on Sunday, November 24 evening about the tragedy.

In videos broadcast on social networks and whose authenticity AFP was unable to verify, we see numerous inert bodies. Other videos circulating on the networks show scenes of great confusion in the streets following the outbreak of clashes. “It all started with 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.

Tournament in support of the head of the junta

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. Such tournaments have proliferated in recent weeks in Guinea, in what are seen as events in support of Mr. Doumbouya's possible candidacy in the next presidential election.

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 dictates that no member of the junta will be able to run “neither in national elections nor in local elections”.

A poll planned for 2025?

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.