By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – World football has been shocked by the death of a 24-year-old Cameroon footballer struck by a missile thrown from the terraces at a league match in Algeria. Albert Ebosse Bodjongo (pictured), the Algerian league’s top scorer last season with 17 goals, was hit on the head by what appeared to be a piece of concrete.
The tragedy cast another dark shadow over the image of African football, on and off the field, with the confederation’s president Issa Hayatou warning that it must not become a breeding ground for hooliganism.
The promising striker, who played for Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie, was declared dead after being rushed to hospital following a 2-1 home defeat on Saturday by champions USM Alger in Tizi Ouzou east of the capital Algiers. He was fatally struck as the home team’s fans pelted the players with stones as they left the pitch, according to Algerian media.
In a statement, his club said Ebosse, who scored his team’s goal, had “succumbed to a head injury”, a huge blow to a country that won so many friends with its battling displays at the World Cup finals in Brazil before narrowly succumbing to eventual winners Germany.
“My thoughts go out to the family and friends of this young man who enjoyed his job peacefully and went further to pursue his passion for football abroad,” said Hayatou, who also hails from Cameroon.
In expressing his message of condolence, Hayatou called for appropriate sanctions against the perpetrators.
“African football cannot be the breeding ground for hooliganism whatsoever. We expect exemplary sanctions to be taken against this grave act of violence. 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 in stadiums on the continent.”
Algeria’s interior ministry launched an immediate investigation into the death of Ebosse who arrived in Algeria via a spell in Malaysia, while League president Mahfoud Kerbadj, who had attended the game, called an emergency executive committee meeting with a possible suspension of the championship on the agenda.
“Two weeks ago everyone was singing the praises of Algerian football,” said Maher Mezahi, a local Algerian football journalist based in the north of the country. “At the moment all memories of the World Cup are forgotten. On the ground Algerian football needs to come a long way.”
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