How the 1986 Mexico World Cup was almost cancelled after a devastating earthquake | World Cup
Mexico last hosted the World Cup in 1986, but the earthquake in the capital Mexico City killed at least 5,000 people, left 30,000 homeless and a large part of the city was destroyed. worst earthquakes hit the country.
To this day, the death toll remains disputed, with some estimates putting the number as high as 200 thousand. 40,000.
There have been calls for the World Cup to be cancelled. affected to a neighboring country. But with football stadiums still standing, including the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, the Mexican government, backed by FIFA, was determined to go ahead with the tournament.
Mexico stepped in as host in 1983, after Colombia. retreated gave up organizing the tournament for economic and security reasons.
Death toll in Mexico earthquake ‘close to 4,000’: second earthquake tremor hits capital
By Michael White in Washington and Peter Chapman in Mexico City
21 September 1985
Little additional damage was reported, but tremors hampered rescue efforts as 50,000 soldiers, police and firefighters battled the blaze with dwindling supplies of water and medicine, fears of disease and screams from the trapped and injured.
Officials said about 250 buildings had collapsed, mostly in the city centre, and another 50 were in imminent danger. Parts of the city were sealed off by the police and army.
At least three hospitals were among the buildings that were seriously damaged or destroyed, trapping doctors and patients under rubble. Several churches had collapsed just minutes before they filled for morning mass.
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Survivors speak of ‘a mighty blow from hell’
By our foreign staff
21 September 1985
According to eyewitnesses who survived the disaster, the earthquake hit Mexico like “a mighty blow from hell”; Skyscrapers collapsed, children were trapped in the ruins of their schools, and stones and glass rained down on the streets.
Within three minutes of the earthquake at 2.18pm (BST) on Thursday, the center of Mexico City looked like a war zone, a metaphor used by many survivors. “It’s like a big monster, like being bombed or being at war,” said a volunteer rescue worker.
Survivor Mr. Flavio Bocuccia, a 21-year-old Roman from Rome, told in a trembling voice how he saved his six-year-old brother from falling out of a hotel window when the earthquake started. “I caught Alexandro climbing out of the hotel window.
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FIFA eases World Cup concerns
by Robert Armstrong
21 September 1985
Fears that a new host nation might need to be found for the 1986 World Cup finals were eased yesterday with reports from Mexico that none of the 12 stadiums slated for the tournament were damaged in the earthquake that caused widespread death and destruction. A spokesman for the International Football Federation (FIFA) said: “There is no need for any immediate emergency measures regarding World Cup preparations.”
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Mexican president orders investigation into government’s popularity after World Cup opening celebrations
by Peter Chapman
June 3, 1986
mexico city
President Miguel de la Madrid had ordered a secret investigation into how his government’s popularity could be increased after it was voiced. booed and was mocked during the opening ceremonies of the World Cup at the weekend.
With 100,000 people gathered at the Azteca stadium, not a word of the president’s inaugural address could be heard as the crowd voiced its disapproval of Mexican officials. The speech was heard more on television, but it was also the same crowd reaction heard in millions of homes around the world.
Most of the audience had paid high prices for their seats (more than $50 in some cases) and were members of the increasingly disillusioned middle classes.
The crowd’s anger was also directed at Mr. Ramon Aguirre, the mayor of Mexico City, who was largely blamed for the government’s failure to deal with the damage left by last year’s earthquakes, and Mr. Guillermo Canedo, president of Mexico’s World Cup organizers, who said the event symbolized the country’s rise from ruins. His words were incompatible with the fate still experienced by thousands of homeless people here.
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(All articles are edited excerpts)
