I always worry when these Biafran boys have to represent Nigeeria in sports outside the Eastern States. It is a bit ok for them to play in Lagos and Benin but I just have never seen the wisdom of having these boys risking their limbs in Sharia nigeria playing for people who have no knowledge of soccer or anything else.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At least 25 football fans and Journalists were injured when a stampede occasioned by poor crowd control ensued at Super Eagles' last training session in Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano on Tuesday. The sudden appearance of Eagles' galaxy of stars in Tuesday's training triggered off large spectatorship with both the Kano State Football Association and the Sports Council imposing gate fees of N30 and N50 to curtail the soccer crazy people of the state. But the measure failed to yield the desired dividend as those saddled with the responsibility of selling tickets and controlling the crowd continued to admit fans even when the 13,500 capacity stadium had to accommodate over 25,000 spectators.

Fans who had been looking for a good opportunity to meet their idols in the team became unruly when the players and their officials entered the pitch to commence training at about 3.45 p.m. While some hailed players like Kanu, Amokachie and Okocha, others could not contain the excitement of merely looking at them and invaded the pitch in a bid to touch the players. At this juncture, ill-equipped Policemen tried to curtail the invasion but failed as more fans surged forward and thus overpowered the few Policemen on duty who displayed sheer incompetence in handling a situation like that.

Unable to keep the crowd at bay, the Policemen were assisted by the bodyguards who were ferried into Kano by some of the players and as the muscular men unleashed terror on the hapless fans, a stampede ensued.

While some were trampled upon, others sustained injuries by crashing on the barricades at the entrance to the stadium as they made their way out of the confused situation.

As the Policemen fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd, more stampede followed with the training instantly halted. The players and their officials scampered into their bus, which took them away. No official was willing to confirm the number of casualty in the stampede. Meanwhile, Eagles' camp bubbled with all the invited regular players, except team Captain Sunday Oliseh and Ajax of Amsterdam winger Pius Ikedia, arriving for yesterday's training before it was disrupted by the rowdy situation

Among the latest arrivals are Jay Jay Okocha, Victor Agali, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo and Isaac Okoronkwo. However, Kanu became doubtful to make the squad to Sudan as he limped out of the training shortly before it was disrupted.

Okocha, as usual, entertained the crowd with his deft touches, which excited the fans before the training was put off abruptly.