• On Monday, a dejected Manchester United fan walked around Eldoret town half-naked to keep a promise he made if his team lost.
• Many Kenyans, mostly youths, have done ridiculous things to express their loyalty to the English Premier League teams they profess to support.
Image: PEXELS
The craziness of supporting foreign football leagues in the country has reached unfathomable proportions.
On Monday, a dejected Manchester United fan walked around Eldoret town half-naked to keep a promise he made earlier.
The young man pledged to strip naked and stroll around the town if Manchester United lost against Liverpool. United’s 7-0 thrashing came as a huge surprise, and the man was obliged to walk his rhetoric.
The ardent Manchester United supporter removed his club’s white jersey and wandered through town in pampers.
Although, as a comedian, he did it to boost his numbers on social media, his actions are a true reflection of how many Kenyans have responded in the past whenever the teams they support are defeated.
Many Kenyans, mostly youths, have done ridiculous things to express their loyalty to the English Premier League teams they profess to support.
There have been deadly stabbings in bar brawls triggered by the outcome of English Premier games. Many incidents of young people committing suicide after losing large sums of money betting on the results of foreign leagues are also common in the country.
For example, a 25-year-old man died earlier this month after being smacked in the head while scuffling for space during a televised football match in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado. The man succumbed to his injuries, a day after the violent altercation at the township joint.
According to authorities, the deceased walked to the shopping centre to watch an English Premier League match on television but did not have the Sh50 entry charge.
This compelled him to watch the game through the window. In the process, he allegedly got into a fight with one of those who were trying to watch the game from the same vantage point.
His assailant allegedly struck him on the head with a blunt object before fleeing. But Kenya is not alone in this folly. At least two Ugandan football fans are currently facing murder charges after a man was slain in the capital, Kampala, in a dispute over the outcome of a match in England.
The youth counsellor allegedly died from stab wounds after intervening in a confrontation following Arsenal’s loss to Manchester City recently. Allan Kakumba died moments after being admitted to the hospital the following day, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Luke Oweyesigire told the BBC that Kakumba, 25, intervened when his brother, Titus Kyendo, an Arsenal fan, got involved in a confrontation with Manchester City supporters.
This comes less than a week after an Arsenal fan was bludgeoned to death in the West Nile district of Adjumani.
Richard Ukuyo, a well-known Arsenal fan, was hit in the back of the head with a club after annoying a devastated Manchester United fan following Arsenal’s victory over them last month.
English football is widely followed in East Africa and throughout the continent. Its popularity has been bolstered further by the expansion of betting, which may explain why some are taking it even more seriously than in the past.
Yet, with the English Premier League’s roaring popularity in the country, there is an increasing need to counsel the youth on how to engage in the sport healthily.
Judging by what has occurred thus far, many more people may become victims of avoidable confrontations, which are frequently sparked by intense disputes between followers of opposing clubs.
Most importantly, authorities must look deeply into the subject of gambling to prevent future calamities, even if it means involving mental health experts.