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PYONGYANG (AFP) - Wild scenes erupted in
Pyongyang after North Korea lost their World Cup football qualifier to Iran,
with angry fans throwing bottles and chairs at the referee and visiting
team.
A mob of thousands gathered outside the Kim Il-Sung stadium after the match
and stopped the Iranian players from leaving as hundreds of policemen were
deployed inside and outside the ground in an effort to restore order.
"My players tried to go to the bus (to leave the stadium) but it was not
possible. It was a very dangerous situation," Iran coach Branko Ivankovic
told AFP as the crowd remained outside behind a cordon of police four deep.
The crowd milling about 10 metres (yards) outside the stadium was finally
pushed back another 100 metres almost two hours after the final whistle,
although many remained as dusk set in at 7:00 pm (1000 GMT).
North Korea lost the match 2-0 in a result that all but closed the door on
qualifying for the World Cup finals in Germany next year, and both the
players and the crowd began behaving furiously in the dying stages of the
match.
The players enflamed the crowd when they converged on referee Mohammed Kousa,
shoving him and screaming, after he waved a penalty appeal for hand-ball.
The match was held up for more than five minutes as Kousa retreated from the
pack of North Korean players and bottles from the crowd were thrown onto the
athletics track surrounding the pitch.
Match officials went onto the pitch to help Kousa, who finally restored
order and sent off North Korean defender Nam Song-Chol.
After the final whistle, Kousa and the two assistant referees were left
standing on the pitch for more than 20 minutes as more bottles, some chairs
and other objects were thrown from the crowd.
Police and soldiers lined the athletics track as tens of thousands of fans
remained in the stands and booed in an extremely tense stand-off, which
ended when the referees finally ran off the pitch amid more bottles being
thrown in their direction.
The Iranian team remained on the field for about 10 minutes before sprinting
off the pitch under a similar hail of objects.
Ivankovic said none of his players had been struck, although they had felt
in physical danger.
"It was a very hostile situation on the field. Before the game and after the
game many things happened that were not normal... you know when it is a big
crowd outside everything is possible," he said.
Although the events threatened to turn violent and there was some jostling
between the crowd and the security forces, there did not appear to be any
large-scale fighting or acts of violence.
The police cordoning off the crowd outside the stadium did not appear to be
carrying weapons.
News of outbreaks of public unrest in North Korea, which is one of the most
isolated nations in the world, rarely reach the international media.
Foreign news organisations are not allowed to have a permament presence in
the country, although about 30 journalists from Japan, England, Iran,
Australia and other nations were in Pyongyang for the match.
Ivankovic said FIFA, the world football body, would be required to look into
Wednesday's event, and predicted that tough security measures would have to
be taken for North Korea's next scheduled home match against Japan in June.
"I know for sure FIFA will do something. They have rules and try to do
something about security and safety," he said.
"The relationship between Japan and Korea is specific and of course... maybe
they will play without spectators but for sure it will not be easy for
Japan."
Japan and North Korea have a tense relationship dating back to the Japanese
occupation of the country between 1910 and 1945.
North Korea had already been planning to make an official complaint to FIFA
over what it believed was unfair refereeing during its 2-1 loss to Bahrain
here last week.
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