A stampede at the entrance to an Iraqi stadium left one dead and several injured. It happened this Thursday in the framework of the Gulf Cup final, which was held for the first time since 1979 in Iraq.
The final, which featured teams from Iraq and Oman, had to be suspended for a few hours. However, when calm was present again, it was done and the local team won 3-2.
Official sources confirmed that “there is one death and dozens of wounded.” The cause was, it was reported, because “a large number of fans, particularly people without a ticket, who gathered since the morning and tried to enter.”
“Inside the sports complex, the gates were closed when the stampede took place,” a witness recounted. “During the afternoon, calm gradually returned to the surroundings of the stadium, with a capacity of up to 65,000 spectators, thanks to the dispersion of the fans,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan.
The Gulf Cup summoned the teams of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Iraq, the latter two as finalists. There were high expectations for the meeting so that the country can “recover its image, after years without being able to organize international matches due to security conditions.”
On January 9, Iraq met Oman for the first time in the group stage. Unfortunately, there were incidents in the stands of the Basra International Stadium, in the VIP area.
