Kenyan fans force their way into stadium for WC qualifier

NAIROBI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Organizers of the World Cup qualifier match between Kenya and Guinea on Saturday failed to handle the thousands of fans who turned up at Nyayo National Stadium in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the Sunday Standard newspaper reported.

And now there is the risk of fans being banned from watching future matches considering what happened at the venue on Saturday.

Two years ago, FIFA fined Kenya thousands of shillings and banned fans from watching a World Cup qualifier match when a fan was killed during a stampede.

On Saturday, fans forced their entry into the stadium even after it was announced that gates be closed because the venue was full. Gates were open as early as 10 a.m. (GMT0700), but Kenyans, used to last-minute rush, only started arriving hours later.

By 3 p.m. there were long queues for tickets and by the time the 4 p.m. kick-off, there were still thousands of fans outside the stadium.

About half an hour into the match the announcer in the stadium asked the stadium management to close the gates.

However, those who were outside the perimeter forced themselves into the venue by jumping over and stood round the stadium since there was no place for them to sit.

However, the worst incident happened when thousands of fans broke the perimeter fence and poured onto the pitch to hug the players.

A FIFA security official watched in dismay as all this went on and he is likely to write a negative report about Kenya's handling of the match. The official even had a digital camera and he recorded every incident.

Earlier, the official had threatened to call off the match before it started because of the huge commotion at the venue.

Fans turned up in their thousands to cheer Stars and the organizers must have underestimated the turn out.

Next weekend's match should be moved to the more spacious Moi International Sports Center, Kasarani, with a capacity of 60,000.