JOHANNESBURG, June 7 (Xinhua) -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday that the South African stadium stampede was like a wake-up call to warn World Cup organizers.
Sixteen people were injured in a stampede outside a World Cup warm-up on Sunday, including two police officers.
The victims were crushed outside the gates as ticketless fans tried to force their way into the Makhulong stadium in Tembisa township, east of Johannesburg, where Nigeria were playing DPR Korea in a friendly.
Blatter said FIFA regretted the incident. I am sure, and you are sure, that this is like an alarm clock and this will not happen at any match at the World Cup, he said.
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| A soccer fan injured in a stampedeseen outside the stadium where Nigeria played North Korea in Tembisa, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, June 6, 2010. The stampede by fans during the pre-World Cup match at the Makhulong Stadium on Sunday left 14 slightly hurt and one policeman in a serious condition, police said. The stampede started when too many fans had obtained free tickets for the match and stormed the entrance to the stadium |
The security is always a matter for the state where the sport event is played. The FIFA organization, with all its ramifications, we have no police force. We cannot even take out a spectator from a stadium. We cannot do that. It is not possible. He said.
About 10,000 tickets were given away free for the match, where police saw a crowd twice force open the gates to the stadium.
In terms of organization, please be sure that the level of organization we have at the World Cup is definitely higher than the one we have seen there, said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke. We have to make sure that the police working around the World Cup stadiums will do better than what we have seen yesterday.