By Mark Baber
September 24 – Algeria’s Professional Football League has banned JS Kabylie from playing at home for the 2014-2015 season, following the tragic death of their striker, Cameroonian Albert Ebosse, who was hit by missile thrown by one of the club’s own supporters on August 23.
The Confederation of African Football had called for “exemplary sanctions” and the club will have to play home matches on a neutral ground whilst their fans will not be allowed to attend any matches, home or away, until January next year.
Separately, Algeria’s FA also met with Professional Football League officials and a statement was issued saying, “(Both bodies) decided by mutual agreement to intensify the fight against this scourge to eradicate it from our sports arenas. The Federal Bureau (of the FA) decided to increase sanctions for missile throwing, use of pyrotechnics and laser, as well as other disorder in stadiums.”
Ebosee, just 24 at the time, was hit on the head by the stone apparently thrown from a section occupied by his own fans following a game in which he had scored Kabylie’s only goal in a 2-1 defeat to USM Alger. In the 2013-14 season Ebosse was the leading scorer in the Algerian league with 17 goals.
Condolences have been sent to Ebosse’s family, Kabylie and Cameroon sport and the football bodies have promised to monitor compensation for the late player’s family.
The incident was described by Algerian League president Mahfoud Kerbadj, who was at the game, as a “catastrophe for national football.”
Kerbadj expressed the feelings of Algerian fans, saying, “Something unfortunate cost the life of a young player who, in the space of one season, won the hearts of thousands of Algerians in all stadiums in Algeria.”
Caf president Issa Hayatou expressed the hope that Ebosse’s legacy would bring an end to hooliganism in African football, saying “Violence has no place in African football in particular and sports in general.
“We remain resolute and state in the strongest terms our determination to eradicate all forms of violence and unsportsmanlike conduct.”