Abu Dhabi and Baghdad
CNN
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A Gulf Cup ultimate fit between Iraq and Oman will happen in Basra on Thursday as scheduled, Iraqi football officers stated, regardless of a dangerous stampede out of doors the stadium simply hours previous.
“The match between the Iraqi and Omani national teams will take place as scheduled,” the Iraqi Football Association stated. “We call on honorable fans to refrain from coming to the match stadium because the stands are completely full.”
Earlier on Thursday, a stampede close to the Jaza’a Al Nakhla Stadium – the place Iraq and Oman had been anticipated to play within the Arabian Gulf Cup ultimate – killed one particular person and injured no less than 60 others, state-run Iraq News Agency (INA) reported.
Thousands of enthusiasts had amassed in and across the stadium hours sooner than the kickoff so to watch the fit.
After the stampede, Iraq’s inner ministry stated that the stadium gates are actually “closed” and that not more enthusiasts can be allowed to go into, reported the INA.
Iraqi police requested non-ticket holders to chorus from heading to the stadium to keep away from congestion, INA stated.
“The numbers of fans are very large, and we do not want there to be cases of suffocation, and pressure to build on security forces,” Iraqi police spokesman Sa’advert Ma’an stated in a observation revealed on INA.
Defense ministry spokesperson General Yahya Rasoul known as on enthusiasts to as an alternative collect at leisure zones the place the fit might be performed on massive monitors.
This is the primary time Iraq has hosted the Gulf Cup since 1979, when it was once held within the capital Baghdad.
A video despatched to CNN confirmed enthusiasts seated within the stadium after the stampede. Seating spaces web hosting Iraqi enthusiasts had been utterly complete, whilst the phase designated to Omani enthusiasts was once empty, pending their arrival later within the day.
