Khoza and Motaung request recusal
The two team bosses have expressed their deepest condolences
IRVIN KHOZA and Kaizer Motaung have assured South Africa that “no stone will be left unturned” in the process of investigating what led to the deaths of two fans at the FNB Stadium at the weekend.
Speaking at a hastily organised press conference at the offices of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in Johannesburg this morning, the bosses of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs said they were going to instruct the league to try and find out within two weeks “what really happened”.
Two fans, one of them identified as Prince Chauke, according to Khoza, while the other’s name can only be revealed after his family has been informed, lost their lives in a stampede that happened just after Chiefs scored the goal that saw them beat their bitter rivals 1-0 to win the pre-season Carling Black Label Champion Cup on Saturday.
Khoza, who is also the chairperson of the PSL, said he and Motaung – a member of the PSL executive committee – will recuse themselves from the process lest “we be accused of investigating ourselves”.
“We have written a letter to the league that we will be giving to the chief executive immediately after this, hence we decided to hold this conference here. One, we ask that the league appoints an independent person of unquestionable integrity to investigate precisely what transpired at the event. Two, that the person be tasked to establish not only the facts but whether there were any shortcomings with regards to safety and security at the event.
“The person concerned must be instructed to obtain all necessary reports of relevance, including from the SAPS, stadium, safety and security, service providers, clubs and the sponsors, and do so on an urgent basis. The person concerned is instructed to provide a full report to the (PSL) executive committee within 14 days to ensure a proper assessment can be done regarding the appropriate steps to be taken. And in this regard, Mr Irvin Khoza and Mr Kaizer Motaung recuse ourselves from the process,” he said.
Khoza expressed his and Motaung’s deepest condolences to the bereaved families.
Khoza mentioned the fact that there was a person, appointed by the police commissioner, to be in charge of disaster management, the match commissioner as well as someone in charge of the emergency committee to illustrate the great measures that were taken to ensure that all went well.
He said it would not have been easy to stop the match, as some have suggested.