jossey1979
Senior Member
- Apr 28, 2008
- 172
- 41
The intense rivalry between Kenyan fans of the top English Premier League clubs has left in its wake a Manchester United-supporting teenager nursing a serious stomach injury after an Arsenal fan stabbed him repeatedly following a fight over their favourite teams respective standings in the league.
Abubakar Baishe, 19, was stabbed in the lower left side of the abdomen when an argument ensued with his schoolmate (name withheld) after the game between Manchester United and Liverpool last Sunday. In the aftermath of the attack, the 20-year-old assailant is said to have fled to the neighbouring country of Tanzania.
This sad incident comes just a year after an Arsenal fan committed suicide in Nairobi in the wake of his teams elimination from the UEFA Champions league by Manchester United.
The body of Suleiman Omondi, clad in an Arsenal T-shirt, was found dangling from the ceiling of his room after he went home in utter despair following the Gunners Champions League humiliation by United at the Emirates.
According to Baishes father, the assailant fled soon after the attack and left him bleeding profusely. A pedestrian who saw him lying in a pool of blood raised the alarm and his rescuers managed to hire a speed boat that took him to hospital, arriving three hours later.
A team of doctors led by King Fahd Hospital superintendent Dr Nurein Muhidin carried out a major operation on the victim in Lamu District on Wednesday and managed safely to restore protruding intestines to their proper position.
There was an intestine perforation of at least 2.0 centimetres, and we had to carry out major surgery to correct the situation. He is currently out of danger, Dr Muhidin told The Sunday Nation on the phone from the hospital.
Dr Muhidin said that Baishe, who is a Form Two student at Kizingitini Secondary School, was in a serious condition when he was taken to hospital.
His condition has greatly improved, he said.
Hussein Miji, a family friend, told the newspaper that the two young men had earlier in the day joined their colleagues in a friendly match between Kizingitini and Chundwa villages in Lamu District, Coast Province. The pair played for their Kizingitini team, who won the match.
Yusuf Baishe, the victims father, is yet to come to terms with the close shave his son has had, all for the love of football.
To complicate matters, the assailant is a relative and his sons classmate. This, according to the senior Mr Baishe, limits his options regarding the course of action to take against his sons attacker.
This is mere childishness as we adults cannot turn on each other with a knife; not for the sake of the English Premier League going on in a far-away continent, he said.
Mr Baishe, an employee of the planning department at Lamu County Council, said the two boys were reportedly embroiled in a serious debate as to who between Manchester United and Arsenal would clinch this seasons Premier League title.
But my son took it just as a mere debate usually exchanged by die-hard fans across the globe, only for his colleague to turn his anger on him with a pen knife he was carrying, he said.
Arsenal and Manchester United are the two most popular clubs in Kenya, with Chelsea and Liverpool coming a distant third and fourth. The other Premier League clubs hardly enjoy any support in the country.
The rivalry between the Gunners and the Red Devils is so intense that whenever the two are in action, fans turn up in large numbers to watch the games in pubs, entertainment spots and halls that have sprung up all over the country for the purposes of screening the games live to massive fanatical followers who pay to view.
Despite Arsenal commanding a better fan base than Manchester United, the Gunners' fans have suffered four years of torment from the Red Devils die-hards, who apparently never waste an opportunity to remind their rivals of their dusty, trophy-less cabinet.
Arsenals failure to capture the title since 2004 is also a bane for businessmen, because whenever the team's chances of winning the League falter, the pubs and other places miss the massive clientele. The fans disappear because it is only the extremely courageous Gooner who can withstand the torrent of ridicule from the Red Devils mouths.
A typical rejoinder to Arsenal fans consolation that the team plays beautiful football is the disclaimer that their sexy game is akin to engaging in too much foreplay without any penetration! Such is the life of an Arsenal supporter in Kenya, and why they have developed short fuses in the recent past.
Abubakar Baishe, 19, was stabbed in the lower left side of the abdomen when an argument ensued with his schoolmate (name withheld) after the game between Manchester United and Liverpool last Sunday. In the aftermath of the attack, the 20-year-old assailant is said to have fled to the neighbouring country of Tanzania.
This sad incident comes just a year after an Arsenal fan committed suicide in Nairobi in the wake of his teams elimination from the UEFA Champions league by Manchester United.
The body of Suleiman Omondi, clad in an Arsenal T-shirt, was found dangling from the ceiling of his room after he went home in utter despair following the Gunners Champions League humiliation by United at the Emirates.
According to Baishes father, the assailant fled soon after the attack and left him bleeding profusely. A pedestrian who saw him lying in a pool of blood raised the alarm and his rescuers managed to hire a speed boat that took him to hospital, arriving three hours later.
A team of doctors led by King Fahd Hospital superintendent Dr Nurein Muhidin carried out a major operation on the victim in Lamu District on Wednesday and managed safely to restore protruding intestines to their proper position.
There was an intestine perforation of at least 2.0 centimetres, and we had to carry out major surgery to correct the situation. He is currently out of danger, Dr Muhidin told The Sunday Nation on the phone from the hospital.
Dr Muhidin said that Baishe, who is a Form Two student at Kizingitini Secondary School, was in a serious condition when he was taken to hospital.
His condition has greatly improved, he said.
Hussein Miji, a family friend, told the newspaper that the two young men had earlier in the day joined their colleagues in a friendly match between Kizingitini and Chundwa villages in Lamu District, Coast Province. The pair played for their Kizingitini team, who won the match.
Yusuf Baishe, the victims father, is yet to come to terms with the close shave his son has had, all for the love of football.
To complicate matters, the assailant is a relative and his sons classmate. This, according to the senior Mr Baishe, limits his options regarding the course of action to take against his sons attacker.
This is mere childishness as we adults cannot turn on each other with a knife; not for the sake of the English Premier League going on in a far-away continent, he said.
Mr Baishe, an employee of the planning department at Lamu County Council, said the two boys were reportedly embroiled in a serious debate as to who between Manchester United and Arsenal would clinch this seasons Premier League title.
But my son took it just as a mere debate usually exchanged by die-hard fans across the globe, only for his colleague to turn his anger on him with a pen knife he was carrying, he said.
Arsenal and Manchester United are the two most popular clubs in Kenya, with Chelsea and Liverpool coming a distant third and fourth. The other Premier League clubs hardly enjoy any support in the country.
The rivalry between the Gunners and the Red Devils is so intense that whenever the two are in action, fans turn up in large numbers to watch the games in pubs, entertainment spots and halls that have sprung up all over the country for the purposes of screening the games live to massive fanatical followers who pay to view.
Despite Arsenal commanding a better fan base than Manchester United, the Gunners' fans have suffered four years of torment from the Red Devils die-hards, who apparently never waste an opportunity to remind their rivals of their dusty, trophy-less cabinet.
Arsenals failure to capture the title since 2004 is also a bane for businessmen, because whenever the team's chances of winning the League falter, the pubs and other places miss the massive clientele. The fans disappear because it is only the extremely courageous Gooner who can withstand the torrent of ridicule from the Red Devils mouths.
A typical rejoinder to Arsenal fans consolation that the team plays beautiful football is the disclaimer that their sexy game is akin to engaging in too much foreplay without any penetration! Such is the life of an Arsenal supporter in Kenya, and why they have developed short fuses in the recent past.
