I refuse to stop in my criticism of African football national associations and the continental body that unites them: the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Aside from their incessant squabbling over who gets to attend FIFA workshops and congresses, or enriching themselves by illegally selling their match tickets to global competitions, a la Ismail Bhamjee of Botswana, they hardly seem to put a foot right. Indeed, nations should be held accountable for bringing their stadia and supporting facilities up to reputable par, but few will do so without the promptings of CAF.

It is for this reason blame should be laid at the feet of the Cairo-based football power and the Liberian Football Association and not the match commissioner, or security personnel, for the disaster that occurred in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, over the weekend. Nine people lost their lives hours before the Lone Star’s 1-1 draw with Gambia’s Scorpions in a 2010 World Cup qualifying match, and eyewitnesses have indicated security staff were collecting tickets from fans already in Samuel K. Doe stadium and selling them outside.

The aforementioned overcrowding and heating problems are simply down to CAF’s blatant failure to hold Football Associations (FAs) to higher standards of practice. Sure, it would be easy to blame the police again, as was the case in the Accra 2001 stadium stampede that claimed 126 lives, but one would hope lessons and images from the Hearts of Oak and Ashanti Kotoko match would have resonated enough to make all and sundry realize such a travesty should never reoccur in African football. Our administrators are so keen to follow in the footsteps of the Europeans, yet the English have taken adequate steps since the 1989 Hillsborough incident to ensure that mishaps due to overcrowding never rear their ugly heads again. If we want so badly to follow UEFA, than a blueprint for better ticketing arrangements (amongst many things) needs to be implemented.

Unfortunately, African administrators are more in love with the formulation of committees, tribunals, investigations, etc., than the masses they serve: The administrators seem better equipped to investigate than to prevent, and, in an interview with the BBC Former African Footballer of the Year and current Football Association of Zambia president, Kalusha Bwalya, provide a concise summation: “In terms of the ongoing qualifiers, this should be a wake-up call for everybody to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of where we are going, to endanger our spectators. Eighty percent lies with the associations in Africa–so that we can provide the necessary security and the necessary rules and regulations, so people without tickets don’t go to the stadium.” Let’s hope CAF will act properly in the wake of this untimely reminder. As for the format and make-up of CAF’s shabby website, I will try to hold my tongue for as long as I can.