Disenchanted by the effects of soccer maladministration in the country, Nigerian football-loving fans shifted their attention to Europe, where football leagues are better organised. During football seasons, Nigerian fans watch thrilling soccer matches with frenzy.
A recent trend has, however, shown that the passion associated with soccer could come with some health implications. Ironically, it is not only the players on the pitch that are susceptible to injuries or fatalities. People who watch football matches in the safety of their homes or at viewing centres also run the risk of injuries or fatalities.
On the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2013, when many people were thanking God for seeing a new month, 60-year-old Murtala William, an avid football fan, went to a viewing centre some metres from his house at Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos. William’s favourite club, Arsenal, was playing against Tottenham in a Premier League fixture. Although Arsenal won the game by a lone goal struck by Olivier Giroud in the first half, William never lived to celebrate the win. He died while watching the match.
The tension-soaked game was filled with many breathtaking episodes; a miss here, a near-goal there. The match, which was replete with several nail-biting dramas, left not a few fans glued to the edges of their seats.
On Tuesday, our correspondent visited William’s home where some women sat around the deceased’s wife to sympathise with her. The deceased’s sister spoke with our correspondent and shed light on what occurred on the fateful day at the viewing centre. She said, “My brother was perfectly fine when he left home. He went to the viewing centre not far from here. He was well known there. He was very passionate about football. He loved it very much.
“I am not sure about the stage the match got to when the man who sat beside him realised something was amiss. The man told us that my brother would always offer an opinion excitedly on match days. But he suddenly realised that my brother was not talking, he turned towards him and realised his head was on the shoulders of the next person to him. It was at this point that they tried to revive him.
When our correspondent visited the viewing centre, it was under lock and key.
William’s sister also explained that she was not aware if her brother had a heart disease that could have been triggered by the excitement of the football match.
“He had a medical check-up recently and there was no word about a heart problem. But we all know that that kind of problem could come up anytime,” she said.
The woman explained that the hospital did not offer an explanation as to what killed her brother. “No autopsy was done because he was buried within 24 hours according to Islamic rites,” she said.
William’s case brings to fore the impact football excitement, passion and tension has on fans’ wellbeing. On a major match day in viewing centres, it is very common to see football lovers crammed in congested rooms with poor ventilation. Hot arguments and shouts occur during matches involving big teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Bayern Munich, Borrusia Dortmund, AC Milan, Inter Milan, among others.
A 44-year-old football fan, Seni Folawoye, who nearly died when he developed a partial stroke at a viewing centre in Surulere, Lagos, relived his experience.
He said he was recently discharged from the Randle General Hospital, Surulere, Lagos after recovering from a partial stroke he suffered in April 2013.
Folawoye told Saturday PUNCH, “It was a match between Chelsea and Manchester United. I cannot really recall what happened that day.
“I knew I had high blood pressure before that day but I had no idea it was such a big deal or that excitement during a football match could trigger a health problem.”
Seni’s brother, Akin, explained that he was at the same viewing centre where the incident occurred.
He said, “My brother slumped when the game was in second-half. The tension and excitement at the centre was very high that day. He could have died if there was nobody around to quickly help him.”
Seni said he would think twice before going to watch any match that would excite him because he was under constant medication and observation.
In 2012, a lecturer at the Creative Arts Department, University of Lagos, Akoka, Mr. E. A. Bassey, died of heart attack during a European Championship match between Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
He was said to have slumped and died during the tension-soaked match which Chelsea won 4-3. It could not be confirmed which of the teams Bassey was supporting.
The same day the UNILAG lecturer died, a football fan, identified simply as Obi, was reportedly stabbed in the eye after shoutng ‘Down Chelsea!’ at a viewing centre at Alafia area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. A hotel manager was also stabbed to death in November 2012 by football fans at his hotel along the Isheri-Igando Road, Lagos for asking them to vacate their seats during a crucial match.
“There are many ways one can die while watching club matches, especially in Lagos,” a die-hard football fan told Saturday PUNCH at a viewing centre at Ojodu, Lagos.
There are also dangers that have to do with the animosity that may develop between fans of rival clubs. A commercial motorcycle rider narrated to our correspondent how a young lady and her male companion were attacked after a late night match at a viewing centre in January 2013.
A viewing centre owner at Ketu, Soji Adelupo, explained to Saturday PUNCH that there are some areas of Lagos that a lily-livered businessman dare not establish a centre for watching club matches.
Adelupo said, “Six years ago when I wanted to establish my viewing centre, I was living in Mushin. But I knew that if I wanted to make it a place for people to watch their matches in peace, I needed to move out of the area. I left the area and came to Ketu because I knew the mentality of youths living in Mushin. I knew there was no way I could avoid violence. They are very passionate and violent when it comes to their clubs.
“Right now, it is not that fight does not break out once in a while where I am currently at Ketu but we are able to control such fights. I don’t allow people to bring bottled drinks or beer inside my centre because I know that will readily become weapons if a fight breaks out.”
A former doctor of the nation’s female youth team, Falconets, Dr. Bukola Bojuwoye, who specialises in sports medicine, spoke on the risks associated with watching tension-soaked matches at viewing centres. Bojuwoye said it would not be surprising if someone with a heart problem suffers a heart attack during matches with high stress level.
He said, “What you must understand is that everyone has his own medical peculiarity. But an increase in tension will automatically bring about increase in heartbeat rate which in turn puts pressure on the heart and may trigger a heart attack. For instance, I will not watch a football match that will increase my stress level because I know what impact that may have on my heart and blood pressure.
“The fact that people watch some of these matches with others at viewing centres may increase their risk of suffering heart attack because anxiety may be transferred from one person to another. It is not that watching a match alone at home does not have its risks. For instance, what if one suffers a heart attack when no one is around?
“There is the need for people to go for comprehensive health checks regularly to know the state of their cardiovascular system.”
However, Saturday PUNCH findings showed that Nigeria is not the only country where watching football comes with attendant health risks.
In Europe and the United States, football-induced heart attacks are already getting the attention of medical researchers.
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