Sunday August 20, 2023
A riot between anti-Eritrean government protesters (pictured in blue) and pro-government Eritrean supporters broke out during at the Rosslyn Park soccer fields, 113A Street and 132 Avenue, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia
An annual Edmonton soccer tournament promoting world peace and an inclusive community set to kick off this weekend has been cancelled due to rain but one site was marred by conflict between two groups that caused the Edmonton city police tactical unit to respond.
The tournament at Queen Elizabeth High School, 9425 132 Ave., and Grand Trunk Park, near 132 Avenue and 109 Street, includes teams from Mexico, Namibia, Somalia, Congo, Brazil, El Salvador, Gambia, and Burundi, and the championship game was set for 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The entire event is now scheduled for next weekend, said longtime organizer Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Captain Abdull.
Police near the Grand Trunk Park site around noon Saturday said conflict between two groups from Eritrea, one pro-government and one opposed, caused a surge of officers to respond, including the tactical unit. Some rioters were armed with wooden sticks. Several of the 400 or so who clashed were being treated for minor injuries.
Just after noon, city police issued a news release warning citizens to stay away from the area near 132 Avenue and 113A Street.
Law enforcement ordered everyone to leave the site but no one was heeding the instructions. Just before 2 p.m., more than 80 police officers were on scene, separating the two crowds of opposing men.
Police at that point began dispersing.
Shortly after 4 p.m., Edmonton police issued a statement saying one person was assaulted with an object and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Ten more people involved were also taken to hospital with minor injuries and, while police continue to investigate, they said no arrests had been made.
Then, just after 6 p.m., another string of police officers formed a line barrier between protesters near 34 Avenue and 93 Street. Nearby, at the 9257 34A Ave. Maharaja banquet hall, windows were smashed out. Several cars outside the establishment also had windows broken.Abdull, the organizer of the Canada World Peace Soccer Tournament for about seven years, was saddened to learn of the violence on the site where his peace tournament was to play out, in part.
“They didn’t book (the field) and they are there fighting each other. They don’t follow the rules,” he said.
The real goal of his tournament is to promote community, appreciation, love, and peace.
He stresses how the tournament was created to acknowledge the beauty of Canada and appreciate all it has to offer not to “bring the stupidness” from homelands to this soil.
“I have to give back what Canada has been for me, for everyone … appreciation. You can be in a beautiful country like that in western society and good opportunity, all the kind jobs, education, sport … a country to give something back and talk about peace,” he said earlier this week.
The Canada World Peace Team and the city police team are still set to face off next Sunday, Aug. 27, as they had last year.
— With files from David Bloom