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Dingilizwe Ntuli Sports Editor
HOOLIGANISM that reared its ugly head at Barbourfields Stadium in both Easycall Cup semi-final encounters on Saturday and Sunday again glaringly exposed the police’s crowd control shortcomings. It’s difficult to understand how fans could scale the fence and charge towards players on the pitch in the presence of the police. Why pay the police when hooliganism and pitch invasions continue to occur at our stadia?
What made Saturday’s scenes unsavoury was the sight of Chicken Inn goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze being attacked by Caps United fans in the presence of the police. It was made worse by the fact that the match was being broadcast live on SuperSport.
As if Saturday’s ugly scenes were not enough, there was another pitch invasion again at the same venue on Sunday after the titanic battle between the country’s biggest teams Dynamos and Highlanders.
A sea of fans poured from the Soweto stand and southern grandstand onto the pitch and it must have been terrifying for the players as they barged and were forced to fight their way to the sanctuary of the dressing rooms.
Luckily no player was attacked or hurt, but such scenes should have no place in our football. Both events showed that policing units need to improve their crowd control strategies, tactical awareness and command and control. How were fans able to burst onto the pitch and threaten the safety of players?
While the fans behaved irresponsibly and have to be condemned, the police should shoulder the biggest blame as the people in charge of crowd control. For whatever reasons, their plan failed this past weekend, but they were paid in full and the clubs involved probably face heavy fines from the authorities.
Our police seem good at reacting to situations instead of being proactive in preventing pitch invasions. While the Premier Soccer League punishes clubs for their fans’ behaviour, it should also be understood that clubs have no training in crowd control as the police.
The police know the flashpoints at Barbourfields Stadium and should anticipate certain forms of trouble when certain teams meet, but they never learn. Their visibility is only when they react heavy-handedly to pitch invasions.
Our police must have an understanding of how, when, and to what degree to use force. If the fans become violent, police should respond with the least amount of force necessary and not unleash their dogs randomly, leaving even innocent fans injured.
Individual police officers must also not lose self-control when dealing with hooliganism as this will help contribute to orderly restoration of order. Alcohol always plays a big part in the problems as fans drink too much before matches, and the police should react soberly when they fail to contain an invasion as they would have been complicit in the first place.
Online Reporter