Chances are it will happen again
On the pitch invasion by Celtic supporters
What happened on Sunday was shocking. We were not aware of such a thing and when the first supporter came onto the pitch, I thought it is someone who had too much to drink. But soon after that one, another one entered the field, then it became uncontrollable. It became worse and they started throwing things on the field and there was a lady as well who was refusing to move from the pitch and, obviously, she was never going to be manhandled. We were standing there shocked! We thought that the supporters were boycotting the game when we first came for the pitch inspection because there were no supporters in the stands. But when we came out for warm-up, they were there singing. The police came in and intervened, and that is when the referee decided to call the game off. The sad thing is that when this all happened, we were on the ascendancy. We were attacking Cape Town City. It was very disappointing and frustrating for us. We know that Masele (Celtic supporters) love us.
On the players’ relationship with the supporters
We have a very good relationship with our supporters and even in that game they were singing and chanting, not showing any signs of anger. That is why we were so shocked when it all happened. It really cost us because in those 20 or so minutes that were played, we had an upper hand and we looked like scoring every time we got closer to their box. This has really frustrated us. We really want to win our games at home and we are not really aware or sure of their beef with the club management. But whatever it is, it needs to be sorted out now. We are desperately challenging for a Top Eight finish. I feel like they were not supposed to do that.
On what led to the fans’ actions
I really don’t know why they did that, but all I know is that it is about the sale of the team – I just don’t know whether they are opposing it or they want it to happen. Even the club CEO, Khumbulani Konco, said they had a meeting with the supporters, even though he didn’t get into the details of it. He said that they agreed about what is going to happen from now on. He was also disappointed that the supporters did that after their successful meeting. He said that even they, as management, were also shocked. It is frustrating, but I was shocked when I got to training on Monday morning and everyone was in a happy mood. I mean, the players were singing and dancing, This week we hear from Mzwanele Mahashe, Bloemfontein Celtic defender which was a good thing though. It was really a nice feeling. After the game was called off, coach Benni McCarthy came to us and told us that we should not let that put us down because we were the better team in those 20 minutes that were already played before the game was called off.
On the consequences the club might suffer
The CEO was going to go into a meeting with the PSL and the decision was going to be taken from there. He was not sure of any sanction though because they are yet to sit, but what he said was that we could be slapped with a fine, even though some people are saying there could also be a two-match ban for our supporters.
On the possibility of the club’s last home games played away
We were on the ascendancy and were about to score and now that has ruined everything and there’s the possibility of playing our remaining home games away. That will be sad if it does materialize, but the CEO told us that we should be prepared for that as he was anticipating it. That would be a blow for them (our supporters) as well because I know that they love the team and they always come in numbers when we play at home. But we don’t know what is going to happen. We have two games next week, against Kaizer Chiefs and Polokwane City, and we also have this game against City that we should have played. We don’t want those kinds of things because they might be a distraction to our plan of finishing in the Top Eight. The fixture congestion might work against us.
On the chances of a recurrence of those scenes
The guys that have been with the club for some time say that chances are it will happen again and, as a result, they doubt that we will play any more games at home this season. Even the CEO also stated that we should be prepared to go and play all our remaining home games away because of the situation, but he told us that that was never a concluded argument though; it was just something that he was thinking about because he fears that the supporters might repeat what they did. We really need our supporters to support us like they always do. At the end of the day, it is not nice to see them turning their back on the team. I really hope that they sort out whatever differences they have with the management. Imagine if the sanction from the PSL comes back saying that we must play behind closed doors for a certain number of games, for example. That would not only hurt the team but the supporters as well because that would mean that they are missing out on what they love, watching their beloved team play. They need to be civilized about their grievances. I mean, they know that they make our lives easy when they are in the stands cheering us on. But this is something that can be resolved because we all want the same thing, what is best for Bloemfontein Celtic. It is what everybody wants, which is why I say it will be very easy to resolve this.