Anger over Chiefs fan's behavior
Riot at Moses Mabhida Stadium one of lowest points in SA soccer
THE PREMIER Soccer League (PSL), the governing body for professional football in South Africa, has condemned the lawlessness that broke out at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. Kaizer Chiefs’ fans ran riot as they vented their anger after their side’s defeat. Amakhosi suffered a 2-0 defeat at the expense of Free State Stars in the semi-final of the Nedbank Cup.
At the end of the match, hundreds of people invaded the pitch and security was unable to cope adequately with rampaging fans.
“The Premier Soccer League strongly condemns acts of hooliganism and violence that took place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday night during the fixture between Kaizer Chiefs and Free State Stars. Hooliganism and thuggery of this nature have no place in football and acts of violence perpetrated by individuals as witnessed last night cannot be tolerated,” the PSL said.
It would work closely with law enforcement to ensure that those responsible for this hooliganism were subjected to judicial processes, the PSL said.
“The league is awaiting reports from all relevant role players.”
The scenes that occurred at Moses Mabhida were among the lowest moments in South African soccer in recent years, but Free Stars Stars boss Luc Eymael said he had seen worse.
“I don’t like hooliganism. It is sad for a fantastic country like South Africa and fantastic organisation like Nedbank but I’ve seen something 10 times worse than that when I was in AS Vita Club (in DRC Congo) because some people think that I never managed a big team. I have managed Vita Club and El-Merreikh in Sudan. When I was at Vita Club I stayed three hours in the change room.
“When we drew at TP Mazembe in the last minutes, we couldn’t take the bus to the airport. They broke everything (the supporters of Mazembe)… not in the new stadium but in their own stadium of Mazembe (the old venue). “After we got hold of our chairman he sent transport to take us out of the stadium,” Eymael said. – Minenhle Mkhize and African News Agency (ANA) See page 8