Bickering and spite spoiled a great weekend

The events of last weekend left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was supposed to be a glorious day for South African football but it ended shamefully with spite coming from all angles.

Okay, before I lose you, let me explain. It was a glorious weekend in that Mamelodi Sundowns managed to beat Egyptian and African giants, Al-Ahly at FNB Stadium in an important Champions League match.

The win almost ensures Sundowns’ safe passage to the quarterfinals. On the other hand, Kaizer Chiefs had shown some courtesy by welcoming Al-Ahly when they requested to use their facilities in Naturena.

But at the end of the game, spiteful things came from both the Sundowns and Al-Ahly camp.

Before the game even started, there were reports that some Sundowns fans had blockaded the road Al-Ahly were using to get to FNB Stadium, resulting in a delay.

I saw a Facebook post with pictures of Pitso Mosimane, the Al-Ahly coach helping the law enforcement officer to move traffic barricades so the bus could take a different route.

Pitso was probably doing that to avoid a situation that would be a bad advert for our football. After all, he had been insulted and threatened in his previous visit with Al-Ahly.

At the post-match media conference, Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi said the victory was made sweeter by the fact that Chiefs’ attempts to help Al-Ahly had not come to fruition, stopping short of calling Chiefs sellouts.

But he forgot that Al-Ahly were not here for a war, but for a game of football, a game sweetly named “The beautiful game” because of how it can bring people of different kinds and creeds together.

Allowing Al-Ahly to use the best facilities the country has to offer is a good advertisement for our country and shows that we are a people who are not hostile.

On the other hand, Pitso also said a lot of things but didn’t really say anything. He must have taken a leaf out of former president Jacob Zuma’s book and kept promising to “spill the beans” but never really said what it is he wanted to tell us.

Apparently he gets threatened in one way or another in an attempt to unsettle him whenever he comes to play Sundowns.

But how? We don’t know and he promised to tell us when he publishes a book about his life.

Sundowns have since denied sending him persistent lawyers’ letters and that their fans disturbed the Al-Ahly bus.

I believe it all stems from the bitterness that developed while Pitso was at Sundowns and worsened when he left abruptly.

While Sundowns should be celebrating Pitso for graduating to the biggest club in the continent, it seems they would be happier seeing him fail and fall on his face.

One hopes this can be settled amicably so instead of “warfare” they can urge each other on.