Kaizer Chiefs fans trash soccer’s status

South African football woke up with a credibility crisis on Sunday after the display of lawless violence and destruction that followed Kaizer Chiefs’ Nedbank Cup semifinal defeat to Free State Stars in Durban.

Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela never actually got around to saying “I quit” on Saturday‚ as he rambled on for eight minutes at the post-match media conference, writes Mark Gleeson.

It was vintage Komphela‚ dancing around the issue and not getting to the point. He painted himself as brave, having to take a decision for the safety of others. It took the club’s football manager, Bobby Motaung‚ speaking directly after Komphela‚ to announce that the Chiefs coach was leaving with immediate effect after failing to reach the final as Free State Stars beat them 2-0 in the Nedbank Cup semifinal.

Here are some of Komphela’s utterances: “To be honest‚ I don’t think we deserved the result but it’s part of football.

“We committed two errors and we paid the price.

“The first one we failed to defend the cross. Similarly with the second one.

“There was no threat‚ nothing major‚ even throughout the match‚ we never had problems except when we lost possession and they came on a transitional counter attack.

“The number of chances we created‚ I don’t know‚ I lost count,” he said.

“We faced this [violence] in Johannesburg and now in Durban. I don’t think supporters deserve this‚ I don’t think our players deserve this … neither does our administration.

“So considerations must obviously be made and I’m the first one to make such considerations.”