Saturday’s Soweto match between Orlando Pirates (who won 2-1) and Kaizer Chiefs was not only a derby on the field, but also in the stadium. You can bet your bottom dollar that supporters will be misbehaving at games like these. What happened on Saturday, and who will be punished?
”It is not official yet, but I can tell you that both clubs will definitely be fined for the behaviour of their fans last Saturday,” Premier Soccer League (PSL) prosecutor Zola Majavu told the Mail & Guardian Online on Monday.
”We are still waiting for the official reports. Only after the hearing I will be able to speak about the specific details of these disciplinary measures.”
So, the missiles fire back to the clubs. But what happened? Was it the amount of alcohol and dagga consumed by the supporters, or were there not enough security and police officers? Or is it much ado about nothing and should we be relieved nobody was injured?
”This game will not end well if the ref goes on like this. I tell you, there will be fighting,” a friend told me 20 minutes into the game. His breath was heavy from the brandy he had been drinking from his squeezer bottle.
And he was right; not long after that, Pirates fans started to fire missiles. They expressed their dismay at a decision by referee Daniel Bennett by throwing plastic bottles and other objects on to the field.
It became worse in the second half. Supporters of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates in the north-eastern part of the stadium started to attack each other.
After the final signal, Chiefs fans turned aggressive and blocked their losing team from leaving the field. This led to fighting with security forces and the police.
”There were 76 000 people in the stadium. It was a high-risk game and we deployed 809 security officers. Apart from that, we allocated 100 stickers to the police to be present in the stadium,” Dennis Mumble, general manager of the FNB Stadium, told the M&G Online.
”Officially, the clubs are responsible for providing the security, but we generally coordinate and organise how the security officers are deployed. We still like to be in control of what happens.
”The response to the violence at the end of the game — between Kaizer Chief fans and security — was a little late. It is part of our strategy to deploy security officers outside the stadium after the game so they can guide the flow of people.
”There were simply too few security people inside the stadium to react immediately, and that caused things to get out of hand.
”We discussed the situation this morning, and next time we will make sure that there are more people deployed inside the stadium towards the end of the game.”
At the entrance of the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday, every bag was checked for glass bottles and cans, which were confiscated.
Knowing this, the supporters poured their brandy and other alcoholic beverages into plastic bottles.
”There is no hard and fast rule to check plastic bottles for alcohol. I do not even know if we have the legal right to check these bottles,” Mumble said.
”There is a big debate about squeezer bottles. We cannot confiscate these bottles at the gate, even though we know they might contain alcohol.
”We make sure no alcohol is sold in or outside the stadium. We decided this morning that even the kiosks inside the stadium cannot sell plastic bottles with cold drinks any more.”
The ingredients for a drama were all there: almost 80 000 supporters, loads of alcohol and drugs and a heated, high-pressure match. Yet the violence did not escalate and therefore nobody seems to worry.
”The extend of the damage was restricted to a few broken chairs, which happens every game. If a goal is scored, people dance on the seats and they will break.
”There were no violence-related injuries reported, so in fact we are lucky. It was not that bad,” Mumble said.
The lesson the FNB Stadium seems to have learned from last Saturday’s game is that security officers should be deployed differently, and there needs to be a restriction on selling plastic bottles from the kiosks.
This lesson will not only apply to the next Soweto derby, but will also be taken into consideration for the 2010 World Cup.
”Security for the 2010 games will be supervised by the police, and not by security guards. The security plan for 2010 is already being implemented and the lessons from last Saturday will surely be taken into consideration,” Mumble told the M&G Online.
Pirates beat Chiefs; fans out of control