”Hurtful”, ”damaging” and ”disturbing” was how team manager Bobby Motaung on Monday described the behaviour of the Kaizer Chiefs supporters who caused coach Ernst Middendorp and the Amakhosi players to leave Johannesburg Stadium under police escort after the 1-1 Premier Soccer League (PSL) draw against old derby rivals Moroka Swallows.
Motaung, the son of club chairperson and founder Kaizer Motaung, lashed out on the Chiefs’ website and described the fans’ behaviour as ”damaging the 35 years of hard work” in building the reputation and stature of the club.
The frustration of the supporters boiled over after the defending champions drew for the seventh time in 10 Premier League games this season — the last five in succession — and slithered to eight points behind log leaders and arch-rivals Orlando Pirates.
The ugly incident, which left officials fearing for the safety of Middendorp, in particular, and the Chiefs players, comes only weeks after another outburst of wild, irrational dissatisfaction from Chiefs fans resulted in massive scenes of vandalism at the FNB Stadium after a 2-1 Supa8 Cup defeat against Bloemfontein Celtic.
Large sections of seating was uprooted and hurled on to the pitch, resulting in damage estimated by FNB Stadium manager Dennis Mumble as ”somewhere between R350 000 and R600 000”.
Chiefs were initially fined R100 000 for the FNB Stadium fracas by the PSL disciplinary committee and ordered to play three games behind closed doors, with the lockout for one of these matches treated as a suspended sentence.
After a succession of controversial appeals, an urgent high court application and an arbitration hearing, the punishment was surprisingly diluted to the R100 000 fine and one lockout game only.
It has apparently not acted as a sufficient deterrent to Chiefs fans to mend their ways.
But PSL CEO Trevor Phillips was on Monday cagey as to whether any action would be taken following the latest outburst.
”I’m out of town [Johannesburg] and not familiar with all the facts surrounding the incident,” said Phillips. ”Once I have them at my disposal, we’ll decide what, if any action is required.”
Phillips had initially demanded firm action against Chiefs following the FNB Stadium bedlam, but later altered his stance after coming under fierce criticism from Kaizer Motaung. — Sapa