Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Fifa, the Swiss-based international football federation, is fining Côte d’Ivoire CHF50,000 and enforcing several preventive measures before the next home match, at the end of a disciplinary investigation into a March 2009 accident that killed 22 people. Fifa has also donated CHF100,000 to the families of those who died.

The deaths occurred during a stampede outside the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire before the Fifa World Cup/CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Côte d’Ivoire and Malawi 29 March 2009. The game went ahead, with the home team beating Malawi 5-0.

The next scheduled home match is between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso in Abidjan 5 September 2009. The preventive measures include:

• the stadium will be restricted to 20,000 spectators
• externally, a mandatory traffic control cordon will be established at least one kilometre away from the stadium
• a spectator control cordon will be established 100-200 metres from the stadium “in order to filter the access of spectators.”

Fifa notes that “the total capacity of the stadium (34,600) will only be allowed in subsequent matches if the above-mentioned measures are applied for each match. All future matches will not be allowed to kick-off until the designated FIFA Security Officer is satisfied with all aspects of stadium safety and security.”

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