Bafang municipal stadium suspended over attack on match officials.

The decision to suspend the football facility from all competitions, was taken Monday February 13, by the Transitional Council of Professional Football, known by the French acronym CTFP. The moves comes after supporters of Unisport attacked match officials during a league match on Sunday February 12.

“…as a conservative measure, the Bafang Municipal Stadium is suspended from all competitions, while waiting for decisions to be taken by the Federal Homologation Commission and the FECAFOOT Ethics Commission which have all been informed to make pronouncement on such retrogressive acts which tarnish the image of our football” reads part of the release signed by CTFP Secretary General, Faustin Blaise Mbida.

The body in charge of organising Elite One and Two matches while regretting the incident, assured football lovers and its partners of its determination to ensure its competitions are free from acts of violence as well as the respect values such as Fair Play.

CTFP has also called on clubs participating in the championships to sensitise and educate their supporters against such acts whose sanctions could go as far as legal pursuits.

Incident which provoked ban

Unisport of Bafang hosted Victoria United in the top fixture of match day 12 of the MTN Elite Two Championship but the game ended prematurely after irate supporters of the home team invaded the playground and attacked the referees who handed the game.

Central referee, Boyomo Biguemi and his assistants only survived lynching by stroke of luck. The Unisport fans were protesting a penalty awarded Victoria United which they judged as unjust.

The Bafang-based team was leading 1-0 up to the 86^th minute when central referee pointed to the penalty spot, after one of the players of the visiting team appeared to have been fouled in the Unisport area.

The supporters of Unisport who argued that it was a staged penalty, immediately invaded the pitch and targeted the match officials.

There was a free for all fight and the referees scamper for safety. The few security officers who were present in the stadium alongside some players of the two teams tried as much as they could to protect the referees who managed to meander their way through the crowd to the dressing room.

The possible transformation of the spot kick would have put the two teams on a tie. However, with the pitch invasion, the match ended prematurely.

Unisport president regrets incident

The President of Unisport of Bafang, Jacques Donald Ngamenie, in a release hours after the incident, condemned the acts of violence which he said “…does not contribute in any way to the professionalisation of our football as desired by FECAFOOT”. 

He called on the public to exercise a lot of restraint during future matches.