‘Fake tickets caused stampede’
Fans with counterfeit passes said to have forced open a gate and crushed two to death Hawks probe syndicate behind unauthorised sales
Counterfeit tickets bought at inflated prices triggered Saturday’s stampede at FNB Stadium, which left two people dead and scores injured.
Stadium Management SA (SMSA), which oversees events at the venue that hosted Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates’ Carling Cup match at the weekend, confirmed some fans arrived with fake tickets and tried to force their way in.
As a result, a stampede ensued at one of the gates and hundreds of fans trampled to death two males who had fallen.
One of the deceased was 30year old Chiefs fan Prince Chauke from Mpumalanga, while the identity of the other was still being established. A female fan was taken off life support at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital yesterday and is now stable, while several others, including a minor, were released after treatment for mild injuries.
While nearly 90 000 tickets were sold out two-weeks ago, SMSA confirmed it had been made aware of about 6 000 illegal tickets.
“Last Friday we got information that a fan had managed to purchase two tickets, even though they had been sold out,” said SMSA chief executive Jacques Grobbelaar. “We involved the Hawks who arrested two people and seized about 3 50 0 counterfeit tickets. But our suspicion is that there were between 5 000 and 6 000 tickets in total.”
Startlingly, Grobbelaar added the illegal tickets may have been printed on Computicket stationery to make them look genuine.
“We will be engaging Computicket in this regard. We believe the syndicate which operates on illegal tickets originates from Computicket because the counterfeit tickets were printed on the stationery found only at Computicket.”
In response, Computicket said it would co-operate with any investigation and maintained it applied “numerous safety features on ticket stock to ensure that its outlets print legitimate tickets”.
Grobbelaar said the stampede was caused by “about 150 people” moving from gate to gate tyring to push their way in. They eventually overpowered police and security, then trampled over people who had fallen down.
“I have seen the video of the incident and it was unfortunate. These people tried to get in illegally and then walked over people who had fallen.”
The stampede, meanwhile, left some fans traumatised and vowing never to return to local stadiums. One fan, Khuthaza Mlalazi, confirmed he had a duplicate ticket which he bought at an inflated price.
“It was my first time at the stadium. We went there without tickets because we knew that there are people who buy more tickets and sell them outside the stadium.
“The tickets were originally sold at R70 at Computicket but we paid R750 for five tickets,” he said.
Mlalazi said trouble started when fans were told that the tickets were fake and were denied entry into the stadium.
“There were a lot of people who bought the fake tickets. We were told that the tickets were duplicated. Someone managed to open one of the gates, everybody ran towards the gate, but we were blocked.”
Sports minister Thulas Nxesi promised a full investigation. – Additional reporting by Sibongile Mashaba and Mpho Sibanyoni
We bought duplicate tickets at inflated prices
Another Soweto Derby produced two unfortunate deaths at the weekend.
Throngs of fans apparently arrived at FNB Stadium with counterfeit tickets and sought to force their way in.
This led to others stumbling and falling after one of the gates was forced open, and some fans didn’t hesitate to go in, trampling over the fallen and resulting in two deaths.
We send our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. As they left their homes to watch the epic pre-season derby between the two South African soccer giants, little did they anticipate they would be called to collect their loved ones from mortuaries, or to go check on them at hospitals.
This should never be allowed to happen, especially as we thought tough lessons had been drawn from the Ellis Park incident of April 2001, where 43 lives were lost in a match involving the same two teams.
Recommendations from a commission of inquiry which followed that tragedy included that kick-off should be delayed should there be more fans outside the stadium, to avoid panic.
But authorities tell us they actually saved more lives by allowing the match to continue as the tragic chaos unfolded outside.
We agree that cancelling the game may have triggered even more chaos, but for the entire occasion to go on without a mention of the incident left a bitter taste in the mouth.
It would have been humane to – at the final whistle – let fans know what had happened, a message to say: let’s be safe as we head back, because we have already lost two lives.
Instead it was all hunky dory at the stadium, with Kaizer Chiefs players celebrating their victory over Orlando Pirates, totally oblivious to the gloom that had beset the venue.
What was even worse was the absence of information at the postmatch press conference, where officials were stopped from answering questions under the guise of an ongoing investigation. It was totally absurd and showed little regard for the loss of life.
We support the call for an investigation into this matter. Fans cannot go to stadiums to be literally trampled to death instead of enjoying the beautiful game.