Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Amal Ghabayen - Last Friday's unfortunate events stirred many questions on who is responsible for the violence that followed the football match between Al Faisali and Al Wehdat teams at King Abdullah Stadium in Quwaismeh, southern Amman.

Children as young as 10 years old did not escape the mayhem, falling under the feet of crowding fans in a stampede to escape the blows of anti-riot police.

The swollen face of 10-year old Alaa' Jamal Husni relays the horror that replaced the excitement of what started out as a clean match played with high sports spirit and good manners from the fans.

"I felt that I was dying," Alaa' told Ammon News with a broken voice. He fell under the feet of crowding fans at the bottom of the stadium stands.

His father, Jamal Husni, expressed to Ammon News the horrors witnessed in just a few minutes at the stadium following the match.

"Gendarmerie forces were hitting haphazardly, targeting their blows at the spectators, leading the crowds to run towards the bottom of the stands where the metal railing separating the stands from the playing field collapsed," he said.

His young son was screaming under the feet of crowding fans, but his father only got to him after the child had fainted.

Walid Jarrah, another young man, shared Alaa' in the hospital room at Al Bashir state-run hospital, and also shared the pain inflicted by the blows of gendarmerie forces.

Jarrah expressed dismay at the mayhem on Friday, stressing to Ammon News that he did not realize what was going on at the moment, "I just know that I was struck by anti-riot police, and found myself on a hospital bed."

Head of Al Wehdat Fans Association, Sa'eed Al Saitari, nicknamed "Abu Sa'adu," held the Gendarmerie forces fully responsible for the unfortunate violence that was inflicted upon Al Wehdat fans following the match.

Abu Sa'adu told Ammon News that Gendarmerie forces treated fans in a way "void of humanity," adding that the violence was unwarranted.

"The forces should have stopped the rocks that were hailing on the fans from outside the stadium, which initially ignited the whole incident," he said.

He added that Al Wehdat fans enjoyed high sports spirits during the game and began to celebrate their team's win, but the blows of Gendarmerie forces struck indiscriminately, young men and children."

Over 250 people were injured on Friday evening following the crucial match between the two rival teams. After Al Wehdat beat Al Faisali 1-0, the latter team fans exited the stadium as is customary for fans of the losing team.

Gendarmerie sources said that rocks and bottles were thrown at the fans from outside the stadium, inciting gendarmerie forces to intervene to get the fans out of the stadium.

Many fans were injured when a stampede caused a metal railing separating the stands from the playing field to collapse. 30 Gendarmerie and security personnel were also injured in the incident.

The violence then spread outside the stadium, and anti-riot police used tear gas to disperse crowds who then headed towards Al Wehdat Refugee Camp and Al Bashir state-run Hospital, where many of the injured were being treated.

The incident stirred condemnation from the Jordan Football Association (JFA), with its President Prince Ali bin Al Hussein expressing dismay at the sad scenes witnessed following Friday’s match.

Al Wehdat team announced that it suspended its participation in the Jordan Professional League championship until fair results of the probe launched into the incident are revealed, Wehdat President Tareq Khouri said in a press statement on Saturday.


* By Banan Malkawi from Ammon News Arabic

More photos of injured fans available on Ammon News Article @ http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNo=75450