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Guyana Police Force responds to K&S article published in Kaieteur News

Jan 08, 2010 Sports

The Guyana Police Force is responding to an article published in the Kaieteur News on Thursday January 07, 2010, under the caption “Kashif and Shanghai clears air on stadium mess”.
The article dealt with the final of the Annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament which was held at the National Cricket Stadium at Providence, EBD, on Friday January 01, 2010, during which a crowd of persons scaled the western and northern fences to the compound, breached the security arrangements and ran uncontrollably into the mound area of the Stadium.
It is most unfortunate that the Kaieteur News did not seek the comments of the police on this matter before publishing the article. This response by the police is only because of the publication made and is intended to clear the air in relation to the policing and security arrangements put in place and is not an attack on the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation.
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 judgment/decision or security lapse on the part of the Police. The police action was out of concern for public safety and security of the persons attending the final which was priority.
It is clear that the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation is making excuses for themselves in the organizing of the tournament final.
In the first place there was no decision for the printing of one type of ticket for the event. It was agreed that tickets were to be printed to the maximum number of persons that can be accommodated in the Stadium and these were to be color coded according to the color of the stand. However, on the day of the event it was recognized that there was no color code used in the printing of the tickets and the control of persons entering the stands was not possible as anyone could have entered any stand or the mound with the ticket.
Secondly there was never any agreement for persons to view the games on a ‘big screen’ television. This only resulted after the organizers were notified by the police that the stands and mound were filled and there was over spilling when they indicated that such an arrangement was in place. This showed the intent of the organizers.
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. At that stage a decision had to be taken and the police stopped the sale of tickets.
The decision to cease the sale of tickets had apparently angered those persons who were at the booths waiting to purchase tickets and they began to behave disorderly and converged at the main entrance to the Stadium forcing the police to have to close the main gate.
However, the crowd became angrier and hundreds of persons began to scale the western and northern fences, breached the security arrangements and ran uncontrollably towards the mound area which soon also became overcrowded.
Without pointing fingers it would appear that there was either bogus tickets or more tickets were printed than the number of persons that could be accommodated in the Stadium. The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation is wrongly quoting the Guyana Fire Service as they have supported the action taken by the police in locking the gates.
Contact was made with the Chief Fire Officer who said that the concern of the Fire Service personnel was not that the gates had been locked but rather who and which agency was in possession of the keys for the gates.
When it was clarified that the keys were in the possession of the Police and not any outside agency, and the ranks with the keys were present at the gates, they were satisfied. It was not a question of the police not having the authority to lock the gates.
The Guyana Police Force is concerned that some form of regulation now needs to be put in place by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport for the conduct of this Football Tournament, including agreement on the printing and sale of tickets in accordance with the capacity of the Stadium.

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