1 Apr 2009

FIFA calls for minutes silence before world cup qualifiers

6:37 am on 1 April 2009

FIFA has asked for a minute's silence to be observed before the start of World Cup football qualifiers this week following the stadium crush in Ivory Coast on Sunday that killed at least 19 people.

The disasters happened as part of a wall collapsed when ticketless fans stormed one of the entrances to the stadium before the qualifier between Ivory Coast and Malawi.

Last June eight people were killed in a crush in Liberia as spectators jostled to get into an already overcrowded stadium.