African disgrace ..yet another

[mrmcfister]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009 ... qualifying

Another great news story out of that shit hole that is Africa...many killed but did they abandon the game? I despair of the place........

[Flat_Eric]

Shhhhh ...... can't say things like that: it's "racist".

Anyway we're worse (Ibrox, Heysel, Hillsborough).

And besides, we exploited them for centuries with the empire and all that. Hardly any wonder that the place is fucked up ..... it's all our fault.

- Eric

[andy at handiwork]

As the country that brought you Hillsborough, I dont think we can criticise a far less developed nation for doing what it can with what its got. The match quite possibly should have been abandoned, but I dont recall our tragedy being put down to the crapness of the country, rather the absolute criminal ineptitude of the South Yorks police.

[Flat_Eric]

It wasn't just the police, Andy.

There were numerous factors at work:

The safety certificate at Hillborough wasn't current, the fans were penned in like animals (as they were in most grounds back then), there were no big gates in the fences to swing open onto the pitch in just such an eventuality ..... and last but not least, there were also hundreds of Liverpool fans arriving late, ticketless, and in some cases pissed up and whose sole intention it was to force their way in - although you'll never find a Scouser who'll hold up his hands and admit that (it's the same twisted logic that they adopt to blame Chelsea hooligans and the National Front for the Heysel disaster 4 years previous - it's always someone else's fault, never theirs).

- Eric

[JB]

mrmcfister wrote:

> Another great news story out of that shit hole that is
> Africa...

I recently spent a month in West Africa and loved every minute. I suggest you go somewhere before you make up your mind.

[JonnyHungwell]

Although I'd hazard a guess you weren't starving or living in poverty. It's easy to enjoy being in the 3rd world when you're not part of it.

[JB]

JonnyHungwell wrote:

> Although I'd hazard a guess you weren't starving or living in
> poverty. It's easy to enjoy being in the 3rd world when you're
> not part of it.

You're right of course. I wasn't starving. Neither were any of the locals who I met. They were friendly and hospitable. The scenery was lovely. The music and dance scene was amazing. The food was fantastic.

FYI I started in Ghana, then travelled up to Burkina Faso, carried on north to Mali, toured Mali, then travelled West to Senegal.

I know there are trouble spots in Zimbabwe, Somalia, Congo and Sudan, but I didn't come within a thousand miles of any of it. People talk about Africa like it's all one place, but that's just plain ignorance.

[mrmcfister]

Soz JB I wont go anywhere near the shithole.Good job you didnt need a blood transfusion when you were out there...of course there are good parts but mostly the place is full of nasty people,nasty animals and nasty diseases..I know about our football games but at least we stopped playing out of respect and to facilitate a rescue.....not in this match though.Life is very cheap in a large part of the continent and has been way before Imperialists came marching in.BTW can you think of anything that Africa has given to the world? Not a great long list is it?

[Sam Slater]

[quote]Good job you didnt need a blood transfusion when you were out there...[/quote]

Well, you can have a go at the last two Popes for their contribution to the problem of HIV in Africa.

[quote]I know about our football games but at least we stopped playing out of respect and to facilitate a rescue.....not in this match though.[/quote]

Sorry, mrmcfister, but they carried on playing during Heysel, and that had over double the death toll of this latest tragedy.

[mrmcfister]

Heysel was a disgrace that reflected very badly on Liverpool and their fans.The policing was pathetic .Not much good has come out of Belgium either come to think about it......