Police warning given to warring pair

Yessouffou Samiou was known to his friends and fans as "Campos", after his admiration for Jorge Campos, the Mexican goalkeeper famed for his colourful outfits and spectacular saves.

At 18 years of age, Samiou had established himself as the best young goalkeeper in the West African republic of Benin. Late last Sunday night, however, he was attacked by a gang on the beach in the port city of Cotonou. He was kicked and stabbed and at 11 o'clock the following morning, in a local hospital, he died.

A few hours earlier, playing in goal for Benin in the African Under-20 championship, Samiou had been on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat to Nigeria. By all accounts he was not at fault for any of the goals. Later that night, however, he was set upon by a group of local youths apparently upset by the reverse.

Samiou appears to have met his end simply as a result of misdirected passion. His mobile phone and an amount of cash were found near his body, which suggests something other than a straightforward mugging.

Football, more than any other sport, can create a bonfire of emotions. Throughout the history of the game, fans have died in riots, in accidents caused by the press of numbers, and in individual attacks, of which Samiou's death is a shocking example, not least since he was attacked by supporters of his own team.

Nothing quite like that has happened in the 150 or so years of English professional football. But over the past few days we have seen powerful hints of a rise in the emotional temperature of the game at its highest level, and yesterday it brought an interesting and possibly significant response from an unexpected quarter.

By urging Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson to moderate their behaviour in the run-up to the meeting between Arsenal and Manchester United on February 1st at Highbury, which is on his patch, police commander Barry Norman has made a brave stand.

Many people who enjoy the tit-for-tat verbal exchanges between Wenger and Ferguson will probably take the view that Cdr Norman is a bit of a publicity-conscious prig. Others, including those who have been yearning to tell these two highly successful managers to grow up, would be inclined to stand and cheer his exhortation.

"Any activity in the build-up to the game which increases the intensity and hostility of the supporters is not responsible and should be stopped," he said. "If there is intense rivalry between two sets of fans, which there is, then anything which increases that is unhelpful."

Ferguson and Wenger are men accustomed to running the world according to their own rules, as is frequently demonstrated by their active contempt for England's Football Association and its disciplinary procedures. It remains to be seen whether they are capable of accepting that a greater authority than their own is vested in the democratic state and those charged with keeping its peace.

This is a pretty good test case for both men. Perhaps they really do believe that they are above the laws not only of the FA but of England. Maybe, however, Cdr Norman's warning will knock some sense into their inflated heads. And if they want to know what can happen when passions run out of control in football, they should contemplate the fate of Yessouffou Samiou, who will now never have the chance to emulate his flamboyant hero.