BEVERLY HILLS, April 24, (THEWILL) – In continental football administration, the first retreat for the Safety and Security Officers of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) held on Friday, April 23, in Douala, Cameroon. In its responsibility as the continental football governing body, CAF, has striven to prioritise safety and security challenges at its competitions and events.
This responsibility has taken on a more significant focus given the prevalence of the dangers inherent in sporting activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the role of safety and security officers has become more essential in the stadiums where CAF games are held across the continent.
This necessitated the organisation of CAF’s first retreat for its safety and security officers in Cameroon by the Safety and Security Department of the Confederation that was appropriately themed: “Promoting the safety and security of stadiums.” Billed as a two-day event, the retreat opened on Friday and will wrap up on Saturday, April 24.
The experienced Head of CAF Safety and Security Department, Dr. Christian Emeruwa led the seminar together with Katharina Steinberg, who is the Safety and Security Manager at world football governing body, FIFA.
The outlined objectives of the retreat reveal that it was set up to express the high sense of importance that CAF as an organisation applies in handling issues related to safety and security while reassessing the safety and security strategies adopted last year to identify where progress was made and which areas need working on.
In Emeruwa’s remarks, he touched on why this was required for efficiency: “During this program we intend to get direct feedback from the team about their different operations across Africa, and to get their opinions on what they think it would be necessary for CAF to do to make the management of security aspects more efficient.”
As part of the feedback loop, the retreat participants raised certain security concerns that included, but were not limited to, the lack of synergy with local security officials which made cooperation difficult, the poor quality of infrastructure, communication, access control and accreditation, and compliance with measures related to the fight against COVID-19.
To handle these concerns, working groups formed during the retreat presented proposals on what can be done to improve the efficiency of the work carried out by CAF safety and security officers in their fields of operation across the continent.
Emeruwa reiterated the Confederation’s commitment to providing these officers with all necessary tools to carry out their assignments with the sense of how critical it is for the good of the game in Africa. The Head of CAF Safety and Security Department also announced there would be other training sessions for the various stakeholders to intimate them with the knowledge they require for their roles.
THEWILL recalls that CAF also provides training of trainers, general coordinators, and match officials. Presently, the continental body is also considering setting up an initiative to reward its best safety and security officers. Tagged “The Best CAF Safety and Security Awards”, it will honor CAF Safety and Security Officers that have met and possibly exceeded expectations in the performance of their duties.
At the ceremony, Benjamin Didier Banlock, the General Secretary of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) read an opening speech on behalf of FECAFOOT President that read, in part: “In a context marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of security officers is more important than ever in events organization, because the slightest breach could generate large-scale contamination and cause many human losses.”
Meanwhile, CAF’s fourth Vice President Seidou Mbombo Njoya, underlined the capital role played by these safety and security officers as he revealed CAF’s hopes that this retreat offers keys for the security success during the next Total Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Cameroon in January-February next year.
Upon conclusion of the retreat on Saturday, there will be a graduation ceremony of the 40 participant officers, who will pay a visit to the Japoma Stadium, or Stade Omnisport de Douala in the Japoma locality in Douala before the final closing session of the retreat.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
