Ugly history repeated itself on Wednesday night when Kaizer Chiefs supporters went on the rampage after their team’s 2-1 Premier soccer League (PSL) defeat against Bidvest Wits University at the FNB Stadium.
Enraged fans, in a 6 000 crowd, tore seats from their fixtures and hurled them on to the pitch as coach Ernst Middendorp, officials and players came under fire after Chiefs lost in their fifth PSL match of the season, following four successive draws.
Last season, Chiefs were initially ordered to play two games behind locked doors and heavily fined after a similar outbreak of vandalism following a Cup defeat against Bloemfontein Celtic.
After a succession of appeals and legal wrangling, Chiefs’s punishment was reduced to playing one game behind locked doors, but what was viewed by many as lenient punishment has apparently not been heeded and the PSL seem certain to mete out even tougher disciplinary action this time.
With four points from a possible 15, Chiefs have made one of their most dismal starts to a PSL season and their irrational supporters, who are accustomed to success, seem to have no idea how to accept defeat. — Sapa