World Cup Play-Offs: FIFA has imposed an indefinite ban on staging international matches at Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
The embargo was imposed on Wednesday after enraged Nigerian fans stormed the stadium on Tuesday when the country was denied entry to the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
The last leg of Nigeria vs Ghana World Cup play-off was held on Tuesday, but the Ghanaians stole the ticket from their hosts in a dramatic manner thanks to the away goal rule.
After a 1:1 draw with Ghana, enraged Nigerian fans stormed the pitch, forcing players and officials to flee into the changing room for their lives.
Dr. Joseph Kabungo, a FIFA medical officer, suffered a cardiac arrest on his approach to the dressing room and was transported to the hospital, but he died.
During the hubbub, Joseph went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead shortly after.
Dr. Joseph Kabungo is a member of the CAF medical committee and has recently been named to the FIFA medical committee. From 2003 until 2016, he was the Zambian team doctor.
It’s unclear what other sanctions FIFA and the regional body CAF could levy against the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, for failing to provide proper security for the game, but both bodies frowned on fans intruding onto the playing field.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) disciplinary committee fined Nigeria $5,000 in May 2006 for insufficient crowd control at Kaduna’s Ahmadu Bello Stadium, where the Super Eagles hosted Egypt in a Gabon 2017 African Nations Cup qualifier in March.
The match’s organizers admitted a crowd of almost 40,000 people into a stadium that was only meant to hold 25,000 people.
In that match, the Super Eagles and the Pharaohs drew 1-1, with Egypt defeating Nigeria 1-0 in the rematch to prevent the Eagles from qualifying for the competition.
Following Ghana’s failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Nigerians demolished the 60,000-seat stadium in Abuja.
The date March 29, 2022, is one that most Nigerians would prefer to forget quickly. It was a day that provided Nigerians plenty of reasons to bemoan and criticize everyone, particularly the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari.
The terrible news began on March 29 when a group of robbers, many of whom were mistaken for terrorists, assaulted a train carrying passengers from Kaduna state to the country’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. During the incident, an unknown number of individuals died, and several were apparently taken.
A terrorism organization apparently targeted the railway line connecting Kaduna and Abuja hours later, but no killings or kidnappings were recorded.
These events occurred within a week of a terrorist attack on the Kaduna airport. There were no clear records of the attack’s casualties.
After a string of bad news, most Nigerians were hoping that the Super Eagles would give them something to cheer about by defeating Ghana and qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
But to their disappointment, the Super Eagles failed to deliver leaving the already angry fans no choice but to vandalize and cause mayhem after the match.
