SuperSport still counting the cost

SUPERSPORT are assessing the extent of damage to their equipment that occurred during the Premier Soccer League match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.

The match‚ which the Brazilians won 6-0‚ was marred by ugly scenes of crowd violence amid a pitch invasion that led to a delay of almost an hour.

SuperSport communications manager Clinton van der Berg confirmed yesterday that some equipment was damaged but could not elaborate on the cost.

“There was damage to equipment‚ but unfortunately I can’t tell you much more than that,” he said.

“Our technical guys are still busy assessing the extent of the damage‚ which will take a few days.”

SuperSport’s equipment‚ which includes state-of-theart high definition cameras and cabling believed to be worth millions of rands‚ was targeted by angry fans who invaded the pitch‚ sparked by Percy Tau scoring Sundowns’ sixth goal.

The SABC is also believed to have had cameras at the stadium but the public broadcaster’s spokesman‚ Kaizer Kganyago‚ was not available for comment yesterday.

Pirates’ supporters have received widespread condemnation for their part in the crowd violence.

EFF leader Julius Malema said: “We don’t agree with violence‚ even this thing of Pirates’ supporters was not correct.

“Pirates are a big club and must be respected,” he said during a media conference.

Some of the chairs at Loftus Versfeld were ripped out by the fans, but stadium operations manager Hugo Kemp has confirmed that it will be ready to host the Caf Super Cup clash between Sundowns and TP Mazembe on Saturday.

The match was originally scheduled for the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville but was moved to Loftus at the request of the SA Football Association following an executive meeting held in Johannesburg last weekend.

Our technical guys are still busy assessing the extent of the damage