Four charged in Ivory Coast

By Ali Bamba
BBC Sport, Abidjan

Too many tickets were printed for the Ivory Coast's game against Malawi

Four people have been charged with manslaughter over the death of 19 football fans at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in the Ivory Coast.

Those charged are Anzouan Kacou, the chairman of the organising committee for the match and three security officials.

The match committee is part of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).

The fans died in a crush ahead of the Ivory Coast's 2010 World Cup qualifier against Malawi on 29 March.

The prosecutor has claimed that Kacou had ordered too many tickets for the game against Malawi, he insisted he only asked for 31,616 tickets to be printed.

However during the enquiry a friend of Kacou's, who is not a printer, has now admitted that he produced more than 37,000 tickets.

The official capacity of the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan is 34,700.

Three police chiefs have also been charged after they failed to ask for help when they realised they did not have enough men to ensure the security of the fans.

The four accused will go to trial on 19 June.

Football's world governing body, Fifa, are still investigating the incident.