Deal ruthlessly with hooliganism to save the game

SEEING Orlando Stadium on Wednesday such a hollow shell was quite dispiriting, wouldn’t you say?

As Orlando Pirates and Bidvest Wits players took to the field, they were greeted by the most loyal of their loyal supporters, clumped together in the stands at the goalposts and on the halfway line. It left the majority of the 40 000-capacity stadium an empty husk bedecked in deep blue seating instead of a heaving mass of black shirts cheering on the Bucs and the Clever Boys.

Such vacant stands should be a major concern for the football fraternity that run the sport in South Africa. Sure, one could argue that it was a midweek game but the gospel remains: Pirates are one of the biggest sporting brands in the country and the game against Wits could be title-defining. You need look no further than the Chippa United v Mamelodi Sundowns game on Tuesday at Sisa Dukashe Stadium, which had supporters peeling out of the terraces, to notice the discrepancy.

A clump of diehard fans growing like weeds in a well-tended garden should, therefore, never be acceptable.

Maybe such untenanted scenes at Orlando have to do with the fact that Pirates are woeful at the moment and that there seems to be a general feeling that the club and its players lack a sense of direction and purpose, or maybe its because of the violent and embarrassing scenes that unfolded last weekend at Loftus against Sundowns.

Either concern should be a major worry for the game’s administrators.

For, you see, Pirates are ingrained into our society, like NikNaks, Lucky Star Pilchards, Koo Beans, Inkomazi, Ouma Rusks, All Gold T-sauce and Mrs Balls’ Original Chutney. It defines cultures and individuals and separates the us from the them. With a simple gesture of crossing the arms, a Pirates fan can be identified and the gesticulation of why it is better to be on the one side of Orlando, rather than the other, can begin.

It is nothing short of disastrous for a club the size and influence of Pirates, not to do well consistently.

Since the departure of treble-winning coach Ruud Krol in 2011, the club have had eight coaches, all of whom have failed in relative terms.

But such volatility in the most crucial of positions will always only ever lead to ruination.

The hooliganism that reared its ugly head at the 6-0 loss to Sundowns is of an even more pressing concern. A meek acknowledgement from the league condemning the violence is not enough. The PSL’s slow reaction borders on the nonchalant. The guilty parties should have already been fined and a stadium ban imposed until a proper inquest is completed.

Evidently, there must first be significant injury or death for them to take the matter seriously.

Such behaviour drives away supporters as there can be no confidence that safety is assured and validates the actions of the violent miscreants.

And that is bad for the club, for the broadcasters and the fans.

As long as these problems persist, no new coaching appointment, or mandatory press-conference to explain away the glaring incongruities on and off the pitch, can save Pirates – not when the club and the very fabric of the game in this country is at risk.

@FreemanZAR