It seems impossible that a game played under FIFA supervision could end up like that. Gambia's tie with Algeria was a comedy of organisational errors which should never be seen in a competition as high profile as the African Cup. The only good thing, there were no casualties.
The worst point - TV images that showed exactly how over-capacity the stadium was (almost double). The Independence Stadium in Bakau has a capacity of around 25,000 people but on the day, over 40,000 tickets were sold!
With everything going wrong around them, fans without tickets sat on the athletics tract that surrounds the stadium. Many of them climbed up onto platforms or onto the floodlights, where people were practically stacked on top of each other. It could have ended in much more dramatic fashion.
What we do know is that Algeria submitted an official complaint and wanted the game to be stopped, but an hour and a half later they did play out of fear of a sanction from African football's governing body.
Leading on from this, there were several other minor issues at the game, but some that should still be nowhere near an international game of this level. For example, the Algerian flag was bigger than the Gambian one, despite the north African side being the away time.
Furthermore, as the teams lined up for the national anthems, in place of the Algerian hymn, the players were greeted by a traditional African song.
However, it got even worse for the side featuring players such as Riyad Mahrez: as the fans invaded the tartan track, the Algerian substitutes and coaches were forced to sit on the advertising hoardings as there were no benches or dugouts.
It goes on. The referee was there to provide one last gaffe. He directed the game whilst using an inhaler, which he needed several times as he suffers from asthmas.
In the end, the game ended in a draw with one goal for each side. It was only through luck that it did not end in a much more ugly fashion.
8 September 2018