Date | 11 April 2001 |
---|---|
Location | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
Deaths | 43 |
The Ellis Park Stadium disaster was a crowd crush that occurred on 11 April 2001, claiming the lives of 43 people. The Oppenheimer Stadium disaster became one of the most severe sporting accidents in South African history. [1] Spectators poured into the Ellis Park Stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, for the local Soweto derby association football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. There was a 60,000-capacity crowd in the stadium, but reports suggest a further 30,000 more fans were trying to gain entry to the stadium. Reports also suggest that 120,000 fans were admitted into the stadium. An Orlando Pirates equaliser sparked a further surge by the fans trying to gain entry as they scrambled to see what had happened. The match was stopped after approximately 34 minutes of play when authorities received a high volume of reported injuries. [2]
As the crowd surged to gain seats and see the pitch, they overspilled into press boxes, and 43 people were crushed to death. Reportedly inexperienced security guards firing tear gas at the stampeding fans exacerbated the situation, and potentially contributed to some of the deaths. The South African Police Services denied these claims. The final inquiry into the incident concluded that a major cause was security personnel alleged to have taken bribes to admit fans without tickets into the stadium and poor crowd control. [3]
When it became apparent what had happened, the match was halted and the crowd was dispersed. The bodies were laid out on the pitch for identification and medical attention, but none were revived. This was the worst sporting accident in South African history, surpassing the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster in 1991. This was similar to the Ellis Park Stadium disaster as it involved the same two teams. Forty-two people died then in a stampede after a large number of fans were admitted to Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney, a mining town some 200 kilometres (120 mi) from Johannesburg.[ citation needed ]
Kaizer Chiefs Football Club is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Betway Premiership. The team is nicknamed AmaKhosi, which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zulu, and the Phefeni Glamour Boys. Chiefs have won 13 league titles and over 42 cup trophies. The Last time Kaizer Chiefs won a domestic trophy was in 2015 when they won the 2014/2015 PSL league trophy and have since never been able to secure any other domestic trophy thereafter. This is one of the reasons why Kaizer Chiefs fans across the country have been frustrated with the team's lack of Silverware which is nearing a decade despite being one of the richest and most supported PSL teams. As a result, they hold the most trophies amongst all clubs in South Africa and are the most successful team in South African football history since the start of the top flight in 1970. They are the most supported club in the country, drawing an average home attendance of 16,144 in the 2019–20 season, the highest in the league. It led to them being dubbed "The Biggest Club" in Southern Africa. The team plays its home matches at the 94,797-capacity FNB Stadium.
Orlando Pirates Football Club is a South African professional football club based in Orlando, Soweto that plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as Betway Premiership. The team plays its home matches at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The 1995 Rugby World Cup, was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country.
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, at the time of the report, 95 Liverpool fans had died. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final report was published in January 1990.
Ellis Park Stadium is a rugby union and association football stadium in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by the country's national team, the Springboks. The stadium was the country's most modern when it was upgraded in 1982 to accommodate almost 60,000 people. Today, the stadium hosts both football and rugby and is also used as a venue for other large events, such as open-air concerts. It has become synonymous with rugby as the only time when rugby was not played at Ellis Park was during 1980 and 1981, when the stadium was under construction during the upgrade.
Johannesburg Stadium is a stadium, in the Doornfontein suburb of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The stadium has a sweeping roof and can accommodate 37,500 people.
First National Bank Stadium or simply FNB Stadium, also known as Soccer City and The Calabash, is an association football (soccer) and Rugby union stadium located in Nasrec, bordering the Soweto area of Johannesburg, South Africa. The site is managed by Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) and is home of Kaizer Chiefs F.C. in the South African Premier Soccer League as well as the venue for key fixtures for the South Africa national football team.
Oppenheimer Stadium is a football (soccer) stadium in Orkney, South Africa. It currently has a capacity of 23,000, but it has increased to 40,000 during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The PhilSports Stadium Stampede was a crowd crush that occurred at the PhilSports Stadium in Pasig, Metro Manila in the Philippines on February 4, 2006. It killed 73 people and injured about 400. About 30,000 people had gathered outside the stadium waiting to participate in the first anniversary episode of the former television variety show Wowowee.
The Accra Sport Stadium disaster occurred at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, Ghana, on 9 May 2001. It killed 126 people, making it the worst stadium disaster to have ever taken place in Africa. It is also the third-deadliest disaster in the history of association football behind the Estadio Nacional and Kanjuruhan Stadium disasters.
The Luzhniki disaster was a deadly crowd crush that took place at the Grand Sports Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow during the 1982–83 UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem on 20 October 1982. According to the official enquiry, 66 FC Spartak Moscow fans, mostly adolescents, died in the crush, which made it Russia's worst sporting disaster. The number of fatalities in this crush was not officially revealed until seven years later, in 1989. Until then, this figure varied in press reports from 3 to 340 fatalities. The circumstances of this disaster are similar to those of the second Ibrox disaster in Scotland.
This is a list of events in South African sport in 2001.
The Oppenheimer Stadium disaster, or Orkney Disaster, was a crowd crush that occurred on 13 January 1991, claiming the lives of 42 people, at the Oppenheimer Stadium in the city of Orkney in South Africa's North West province. It was the second-worst sporting incident in South African history.
The 2009 Houphouët-Boigny stampede occurred on 29 March 2009 in the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Ivory Coast before a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match between Malawi and Ivory Coast. Nineteen people were killed and 135 were injured. In an attempt to control a crowd crush, police fired tear gas into the crowds, who had begun jostling with each other at least 40 minutes before kick off. The match was particularly popular among locals, with world stars such as Didier Drogba, Sol Bamba and Salomon Kalou due to play for Ivory Coast.
The Vodacom Challenge celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2009 with the English Premier League side Manchester City touring South Africa and playing against two local PSL clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. Kaizer Chiefs defeated star-studded Manchester City in the final to lift the title.
The Estadio Nacional disaster occurred on 24 May 1964 at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru, during a match between football teams from Peru and Argentina. An unpopular decision by the referee outraged the Peruvian fans, who invaded the pitch. Police retaliated by shooting tear gas into the crowd, causing a mass exodus. The deaths mainly occurred from people suffering from internal haemorrhaging or asphyxiation from the crushing against the steel shutters that led down to the street. The incident is considered one of the deadliest incidents in the history of association football.
The Dasharath Stadium Disaster occurred on 12 March 1988 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal during a football match between the Janakpur Cigarette Factory and Bangladeshi side Muktijoddha Sangsad KC for the 1988 Tribhuvan Challenge Shield. 93 people were killed and 100 more were injured in a stampede when spectators trying to flee from a hailstorm rushed to the locked doors of the stadium. The Dasharath Stadium disaster was the 9th biggest stadium disaster until 2006 and the worst stadium disaster in Nepal.
The Vodacom Challenge celebrated its 11th anniversary in 2011 with the English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur touring South Africa and playing against two local PSL clubs, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
On 24 January 2022, at least eight people were killed in a crowd crush at the south entrance of Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The incident occurred as fans were attempting to enter the arena to watch a football match between Cameroon and the Comoros at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 19 January 2023, a stampede outside the Basra International Stadium in the Iraqi city of Basra ahead of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup final between Iraq and Oman killed one person and injured up to 60 others. The families of those affected blamed inadequate crowd control and ticketless fans for the death and injuries. The stadium security staff blamed ticketless fans.