Alpha United and Pele put on a good show to bring the curtain down on the 21st tournament of the Kashif & Shanghai (K&S) tournament but I left the Guyana National Stadium, Providence with my emotions in a turmoil ranging from anger to fear and disappointment which had absolutely nothing to do with the match.
I have never been one to say never, but I would certainly never attend another K&S final unless serious security concerns are addressed. I had attended two other finals before last Saturday night’s—the first two were in Linden— and my hiatus from the tournament was a result of these very concerns, which have since magnified.
It boggles the mind that Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major and those who assist them in managing their tournament have, for years, allowed more than the capacity crowd into the various grounds. When the finals were held at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground, tickets were not printed but one didn’t need to know mathematics to realize that the ground was usually filled beyond capacity to the point of being unsafe.
Eventually, K&S realized that the tournament had outgrown Linden and it was moved to a bigger venue—the Guyana National Stadium—but the problem has persisted and it appears it may only be rectified when, God forbid, tragedy strikes.
Last Saturday night so many persons were allowed into the stadium that many were forced to stand at the rails in front of the stands, in the passageways and behind the stands. This situation could be likened to a tragedy in waiting, as human bodies blocked all the entrances and exits. It was fortunate that when it rained earlier in the evening, the capacity crowd had not arrived. Had it rained after the Alpha and Pele players took to the field I shudder to think what would have happened as patrons scrambled for shelter. The grass mound was also a sea of bodies.
After 21 years K&S should have gotten it right by now. The fact that they have not gives the impression that they are only interested in filling their pockets. I have no apology to make for this statement because if the stadium capacity is 15,000 persons then, that should be the amount of tickets printed. From all indications this was not done. I personally purchased six tickets for the red stand (they were red in colour) and on arrival, myself and the five other ticket holders were not allowed into that stand because it was filled. We got a few of the last seats in the green stand. Later however, the gates were re-opened and persons were allowed to enter the red stand and stand at the rails.
Those who were unfortunate enough to sit in the first few rows of seats in the red, green and orange stands had the tall task of attempting to view the game through a mass of human bodies. It was unfair for persons to have bought tickets and then be unable to view the game comfortably. I repeat, the organisers should have sold just the number of tickets for the seats available.
Instead tickets were still being sold outside the ground for as much as $2,000 each and not by touts either; buses were in the mix up and the prices were on posters stuck onto the vehicles.
Saturday night was not the first time the final was heed at the stadium and the exchange between the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the organizers after last year’s event indicates that the very situation was evident last year. Last year, the K&S organisation claimed that it lost millions of dollars as a result of the decision by the police not to allow excess persons to enter the ground.
The police, in response, stated that the decision taken to stop the sale of tickets and to prevent persons from entering the stadium during the final of the 20th tournament was taken out of concern for the safety of the public.
“The Guyana Police Force wishes to state from the onset that the situation that resulted at the stadium during the Kashif and Shanghai football tournament final on New Year’s Day was not as a result of any bad judgement/decision or security lapse on the part of the police,” a statement from the force said last year. “The police action was out of concern for public safety and security of the persons attending the final which was priority,” the statement added.
“The police action in stopping the sale of tickets had to do with the fact that the stands and mound of the stadium were filled to capacity. There was no electronic equipment to check persons by head, but in addition, there were hundreds of persons outside, some of whom had tickets, and others were at the booths where tickets were still for sale.” However, after the decisions were effected, hundreds of persons scaled fences on the western and northern sides of the ground and ran past the security towards the mound area.According to that release, “without pointing fingers it would appear that there were either bogus tickets or more tickets were printed than the number of persons that could be accommodated at the stadium.”
The above statement is the crux of the matter and it boggles the mind that the GPF did not do all in its power to ensure that this did not happen again this year.
The release had pointed out that the organisers breached the agreement that the tickets were to be colour-coded while there was also no agreement for persons to view the game on big screen televisions. The tickets were apparently colour coded this year but that did little to help the situation; myself and the five others with me were unable to get into the red stand with our red tickets. And I saw no big screens for the viewing of the game this year either.
The GPF had also said it had contacted the Fire Chief who explained that the ”concern of the Fire Service personnel was not that the gates had been locked but rather who and what agency was in possession of the keys for the gates. When it was clarified that the keys were in possession of the police and not any outside agency, and the ranks with the keys were present at the gates, they were satisfied,” the release had stated.
The Fire Chief was concerned last year so why did he not collaborate with the force this year to ensure that the laws of the land were kept?
The GPF and the Guyana Fire Service failed in their collective duties, allowing the organizers once again to shaft the Guyanese public. Based on their experiences last year the powers that be that head the two entities should have sat with the organizers and that only the required tickets were printed and ensured that more than the capacity crowd did not enter the ground.
There was a call by the police last year for regulations in connection with the printing and sale of tickets to be put in place by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport for future K&S football tournaments. Did the force follow through with the ministry? Did the ministry take the call by the force seriously?
The ministry, which is the government body with responsibility for sports in this country, should take some of the blame also as its officials should have ensured the organizers towed the line. Last Saturday night I was afraid but even more so for the many children in the ground and I am grateful that my husband insisted that our son did not accompany us.
I will not be attending the game next year but I am hoping that the organizers and the authorities—the police force, the fire service and the sports ministry—will discharge their duties in such a manner to prevent a re-occurrence of the situation. Enough is enough and it is time Guyanese hold these two gentlemen accountable. There is no question that the tournament is good for football in Guyana and that kudos should go out to the brains behind it but that does not exclude them from being responsible citizens.
Come on Mr Muhammad and Mr Major the ball is in your court. I am sure you can do better!
