It is no news that the super eagles of Nigeria played against the Black stars of Ghana yesterday in the second leg of the world cup qualifiers of which the eagles lost due to the Away goal rule. Some even said it was not surprising due to the poor performance in the first leg at Kumasi, Ghana.
What is surprising and unexpected is the way the supposed Nigerian fans acted, they invaded the field and ran after officials, performed various violent actions including the destruction of facilities in the stadium. They rashly vented their anger and reports said that might have led to an officer’s death.
Dr. Joseph Kabungo was a medical officer that was in charge of the players’ doping tests. He died after the stampede occurred so reports stated that he might have died due to the violence.
A Ghanian sports journalist, Collins Poku, who was at the venue of the match tweeted that the doctor was allegedly beaten to death.
He stated that “They beat him, he fell and they throded on him. He lost consciousness was rushed to an ambulance closer to Ghana dressing for CPR. The entire Ghanaian contingent watched on as resuscitation attempts were made with oxygen mask. He was taken to hospital later and now this. Sad.”
However, Usher Komugisha, an award-winning African football journalist who previously tweeted in agreement to Collin Poku later reported that an eyewitness says that he was complaining of being unwell since morning. He called both the Nigerian and Ghanaian players for doping tests but collapsed right in front of the Ghanaian dressing room.
Another person, a sports expert, Saddick Adams, claimed Joseph Kabungo had a cardiac arrest and his death was not related to the crowd Violence.
The Nigerian Football Federation also announced that the death was due to a Cardiac Arrest rather than the unrest at the Stadium, the report stated that the Nigerian medical official, Dr. Onimisi Ozi Salami who was appointed by FIFA as Medical Officer for the game found Dr. Kabungo gasping for breath near the Ghanian dressing room and when their resuscitation attempt failed, he was rushed to Cedar Crest Hospital in Apo where he was pronounced dead.
There are many controversies surrounding Joseph Kabungo’s death, we await CAF/FIFA’s announcement on this, if it was confirmed that his death was due to the crowd violence then Nigeria might face serious consequences including several years of ban.
Sources: Premium Times, Daily Trust and Punch News.
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