Tough love needed to save PSL
Irvin Khoza must take drastic steps to prevent the game from descending into hooliganism
The chairperson of the Premier Soccer League (PSL), Dr Irvin Khoza, who also happens to be chairperson of beleaguered Orlando Pirates, finds himself in an unenviable position: he has to take off one of his hats and deliberate on the appropriate action to be taken against his Soweto side.
There is no doubt that Pirates brought the image of the PSL into disrepute when their fans turned into hooligans and uprooted stadium seats, hurling them on to the pitch soon after Mamelodi Sundowns scored their sixth goal in a 6-0 rout at Pretoria’s Loftus stadium last week.
Looking back, it’s clear that Pirates, Sundowns and the PSL must share the blame for the chaotic scenes, which have received huge coverage locally and in international media.
Pirates supporters have been identified by their attire as the culprits behind the mayhem. But Sundowns were the hosts and the PSL badly dropped the ball when they mysteriously classed the match a “category B” fixture when it was supposed to have been “category A” — no matter that Pirates were going through a bad patch, having failed to gain a single victory since November last year.
The security personnel at the venue appeared ill-equipped to handle the volatile situation. Even worse is that when irate Pirates supporters invaded the pitch, some of the security officials ran for cover, only coming back much later after they had recovered their composure.
Sundowns can argue that it was not their supporters who ripped up chairs and television cables, forcing the match to be suspended. But it is also true that, as the home team, Sundowns should shoulder some of the blame for failing to provide enough security personnel for the match.
An aggrieved Khoza was at pains to say that, no matter how disappointed the fans were, behaving violently served only to defeat the legitimacy of their grievances.
“I pronounce here today that the club’s unequivocal — clear‚ plain and unambiguous — position is for the law to take its course,” said Khoza during a media briefing this week.
“In our democracy, there is a specific law‚ governed by an Act‚ Sasrea — the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act. I commit that this matter will receive the highest priority in accordance with the law,” he said.
“A failure to do so will result in a deterioration that will affect the following of football‚ the sponsors‚ the broadcasters and the public in ways that will erode the gains we have made and should defend bitterly.”
Certainly, failure to deal harshly with the perpetrators of last week’s mayhem will discourage many supporters from attending future PSL matches, at a time when the football body is struggling to attract spectators.
Perhaps South Africa needs to adopt the measures taken by the British, who were at one stage plagued by a growing hooliganism problem. The United Kingdom introduced radical
measures to