OAU Student Record setting crowd Nigerian prestigious university, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) formerly the University of Ife, has set a record for gathering the largest crowd of people viewing a football match out of a football stadium, across the world.
OAU attained the feat while watching the final match between Nigeria's Super Eagles and the host nation, Cote D'Ivoire in the 2023 tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON.
More than 8,000 students of the Obafemi Awolowo University gathered at the Amphitheater of the school and filled it beyond capacity while watching the match.
Sitting comfortably on a normal lecture session, OAU Amphitheater can conveniently accommodate 5,000 students, qualifying it as the largest lecture theater in the entire Africa.
Students were seen standing shoulder to shoulder, and town to toe in the Amphitheater, watching the Nigeria Super Eagles playing against the Elephant of Ivory Coast in Abidjan on Sunday, the 11th day of February, 2024.
Nigeria emerged runner-up to the host nation, Ivory Coast after the match ended on a 2-1 scoreline against the Super Eagles.
The crowd might have been influenced for a few reasons among which was the fun students found in watching football matches within the crowd, and the power outage that almost cut across Osun State during the final match playtime.
The power outage, which is unusual in some areas in the state, was considered to have limited the number of people that would watch the match alone to prevent casualties as some Nigerians were reportedly killed by a shocking decision made by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) during the semi-final match against the Bafana-Bafana of South Africa. Although the Super Eagles of Nigeria later won the semi-final match on a 4-2 penalty shootouts scoreline, South Africa's 90th-minute equalizer after the VAR awarded penalty cost the lives of about four Nigerians who could not bear the shock.
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Category: World-News
Tag: OAU Set Record of Largest Crowd Viewing Football Match Out of A Stadium in the World
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Published 2/14/2024 11:05:12 AM