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Cloud Fusire, Harare Bureau

ZIFA board member for competitions, Chamu Chiwanza, yesterday said the big Afcon qualifier between Zimbabwe and Congo was a learning curve for them.

He said improvements will be seen in future assignments.

The country’s football leaders adopted an e-ticketing system for the first time with tickets being sold in advance.

However, there was chaos at the gates and a stampede led to the death of a fan.

The deceased has been identified as 38-year-old Edina Nyamadzawo from Msasa Park in Harare. 

Zifa president Felton Kamambo and PSL chairman Farai Jere visited the home of the deceased fan yesterday to pay their respects and see where they could help.

They are scheduled to travel to Domboshawa today for Nyamadzawo’s burial.

Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson, Paul Nyathi, told The Herald that the other two injured fans were discharged from the hospital.

“The injured were today (yesterday) discharged from hospitals and our prayers are with Nyamadzawo’s family in this difficult time,” said Nyathi.

Chiwanza said the e-ticketing system worked well.

“The e-ticketing system works perfectly once everyone gets to understand it. It is always difficult when you introduce a new system, it takes time for people to adapt and to us that was a learning process.

“There were lessons learnt and we hope to improve in the coming games. 

“It was the first time we were using e-tickets so it’s crucial to carry out awareness campaigns on how to purchase tickets online and to educate people to come to the stadium on time to avoid pressure and the chaos. 

“Personally, I was on the ground by 9AM and the system worked perfectly well but many people arrived well after 2PM and that’s when some people became impatient because of the numbers.

“It’s very unfortunate a life was lost at the stadium and we commiserate with the family for the loss. The police are investigating the case at the moment and we will also try and review the video footage to see what exactly transpired.’’