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Sunday’s football match in N’Zerekore ended in unimaginable tragedy, as clashes between rival fans resulted in dozens of deaths.
AFP spoke with hospital sources who described the extent of the carnage, with bloodshed and chaos spilling across the city. A day that should have been filled with the energy of competition turned into a grim reminder of how quickly things can spiral out of control.
“There are bodies lined up as far as the eye can see in the hospital. Others are lying on the floor in the hallways. The morgue is full,” one doctor said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He said “there are around 100 dead”, with bodies filling the local hospital and morgue. Another doctor said there were “dozens of dead”.
Videos making the rounds on social media, though not immediately verified by AFP, show disturbing scenes of chaos spilling out onto the streets outside the match. The footage captures several bodies strewn across the ground, further showing rpicture of the violence that erupted in the aftermath.
The N’Zerekore police station wasn’t spared from the wrath of the demonstrators, who, witnesses say, smashed windows, looted, and eventually set the building on fire. What started as a protest spiraled into destruction, leaving the police station engulfed in flames.
“It all started with a contested decision by the referee. Then fans invaded the pitch,” a witness told AFP, asking that his name be withheld for safety reasons.
The match, as reported by local media, was part of a tournament organized in honor of Mamadi Doumbouya, the leader of Guinea’s military junta. After seizing power in a 2021 coup, Doumbouya has firmly installed himself as the country’s president, shaping the political landscape in his image.
Tournaments like these have become increasingly common in Guinea, as Doumbouya seems to be positioning himself for a run in next year’s presidential elections. With political alliances beginning to take shape, his actions appear to be a strategic move to solidify his grip on power.
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Doumbouya seized power by force in September 2021 by overthrowing President Alpha Conde, who had placed the then-colonel in charge of an elite force tasked with protecting the head of state from such coups.
Under international pressure, he pledged to hand power back to a civilian government by the end of 2024 but has since made clear he will not.
The military leader “exceptionally” promoted himself to the rank of lieutenant general in January and last month he elevated himself to the rank of army general.
Doumbouya has presided over an ongoing crackdown on dissent, with many opposition leaders detained, brought before the courts or forced into exile.
A “transitional charter” drawn up by the junta shortly after the coup said that no member of the junta could stand in either national or local elections.
