Gate chaos mars Battle of Zim

battled to get into the stadium for the high-profile Castle Lager Premiership tie between Dynamos and Highlanders.
There are 32 turnstiles at Rufaro but eight of these gates were not working.

There were chaotic scenes at the gates as spectators, journalists, club officials, sponsors, battled to gain entrance into the stadium.
Some fans opened one of the gates facing the city end and scores of supporters made their way into the stadium before police sealed off the entrance.
At the end of the day, 19 683 fans paid their way into the stadium but there was a nightmare for a lot of people.
Yesterday, Dynamos chairman Kenny Mubaiwa apologised for the chaos but said his club had done everything in their power for an orderly entrance into the stadium.

“I understand there were some problems at the gates because some people could not easily get in but let me highlight that eight gates at Rufaro were not working.
“There was a game at Rufaro on Saturday and we talked to the guys from the council who assured us that everything will be okay for our game.
“But it turned out that eight of the turnstiles were not working and could not be used and when I arrived at the stadium, I could see that there were still a lot of people outside,” said Mubaiwa.

Harare City Council spokesman Leslie Gwindi could not be reached for comment yesterday and Mubaiwa said the game’s stakeholders needed to resolve the challenges at Rufaro.
“I think we should sit down and engage the City of Harare so that repairs are made but at the same time I also urge fans to come to the stadiums early. For a long time I have noticed that some fans are in the habit of coming to the match at the last minute and this tends to cause pressure at the gates when everyone wants to get in.
“People who came at the stadium early did not encounter problems in getting in. So I encourage people to come early for the games and ease congestion at the gates,” said Mubaiwa.

He said Dynamos could not request for the game to be delayed as had happened during their game against Shabanie Mine when the tie was delayed by thirty minutes because a number of fans were still outside.
“Asking for a delay was one way we could have gone around the problem but at this stage of the championship race, we should not be courting unnecessary attention.
“There was a lot of talk the last we delayed the kick-off and we do not want that to happen when the race is so intense now,” said Mubaiwa.

The Dynamos boss said his executive wanted their players to remain focused on the league championship.
“I think we learnt our lesson against Masvingo United and we are hoping to continue putting pressure on FC Platinum.
“We now need to beat FC Platinum and that could take us ahead but I know that the going is set to be rough and tough,” said Mubaiwa.

In light of the chaos at the gates on Sunday, the PSL said they could in future consider selling advance tickets for the high-profile league games.
PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele said selling pre-match tickets could be an option.
Ndebele said the PSL had wanted the Battle of Zimbabwe to be staged at the National Sports Stadium but DeMbare said they wanted the game at Rufaro.

“At the moment we are waiting to get a report from Dynamos on what happened and then we can be able to move ahead.
“Initially as the league, we had wanted the game to be played at the National Sports Stadium but instead Dynamos made the request that they wanted the game at their home venue.
“The National Sports Stadium could have been a better venue for the big game but right now focus has also been on the clubs to collect maximum points as well as getting revenue from the gates.

“Dynamos said their home venue is easily accessible to their fans but as it turned out, we understand that some turnstiles were not working and that created congestion,” said Ndebele.
Ndebele also called on teams in the league to exercise Fair Play even as the league race gets more intense.

With at least 15 minutes before the end of the game on Sunday, ball-boys were ordered off the field at Rufaro.
Dynamos were leading 2-1 and once the ball-boys were withdrawn, Highlanders players desperately scaled the perimeter fence to retrieve the balls.
Ndebele said the league can only preach the gospel of Fair Play to the teams.

“Fair Play is not regulated but it’s the spirit of the game and the ethics that have to be respected.
“It can be encouraged but it cannot be enforced and right now the league is getting very competitive such that a team can try anything but I can say in most of our games Fair Play has been respected,” said Ndebele.

Away from the intriguing drama at Rufaro, FC Platinum were kicking themselves after losing to Gunners 2-1 at Lafarge on Saturday.
Goals from Cliff Sekete and Michelle Katsvairo for Gunners cancelled out a strike from Donald Ngoma for FC Platinum.
The expensively-assembled FC Platinum are still perched at the top with 49 points while Dynamos are one point behind. Defending champions Motor Action remained in third place following their 0-0 draw against

Shabanie Mine at Maglas while Zimbabwe Saints now anchor the table with 22 points following their 1-0 defeat to Blue Ribbon. Kiglon’s 3-2 victory over Masvingo United pushed them two places up from the bottom of the table, leapfrogging Shooting Stars who drew 0-0 with Chicken Inn.