Online Reporter
Arron Nyamayaro
POLICE have revealed that Hardrock reduced the number of officers, required for their high-profile game against Dynamos, by half.
Instead of eighty officers, who were recommended by the PSL, there were just forty officers on duty.
Police, who arrested club CEO Kudzanai Hove yesterday, had actually recommended that 90 officers were needed for such a massive assignment.
The PSL have already said that they agreed with Hardrock, who were the hosts, that eighty police officers would be required for such a big match.
H-Metro exclusively revealed this yesterday.
However, police have now confirmed that only forty officers were on duty at Chahwanda on Sunday.
There have been complaints that there appeared to be fewer police officers at the stadium compared to what is generally expected for such big matches.
Police believe Hove’s arrest, in the wake of the violence which gripped Chahwanda on Sunday, is set to send a big message that their crackdown will not spare anyone.
Hove, 44, was captured on video pinning a Dynamos fan to the ground during the mayhem at the stadium.
This left the helpless fan vulnerable to attacks from the home fans.
Hove was arrested yesterday and is the most high-profile figure to be nabbed in the police operation, which has followed the violent disturbances.
A number of fans were injured and needed treatment at hospital.
Hove is expected to assist investigations as officers move to identify and arrest all hooligans who were responsible for the violence which forced the abandonment of the match between Hardrock and Dynamos. National police spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi, confirmed the arrest.
He said police will pursue the case “without fear or favour,” adding that officers are still working to determine exactly what transpired. “The Zimbabwe Republic Police has arrested Hardrock FC chief executive officer following the violence at Chahwanda Stadium on Sunday.
“Police are casting their net wider with a view to know what exactly transpired.
“Anyone linked to the violence will be brought to book and face the wrath of the law without fear or favour,” said Comm Nyathi.
He said the police deployment plan was agreed following meetings with Hardrock management.
He revealed that police had recommended that 90 officers were needed for such a high-profile game but 80 officers were eventually approved.
He claimed that Hardrock management reduced the number of officers from the agreed deployment, and police suspect that this may have contributed to the ugly scenes witnessed during the match. “As police we are saying soccer team authorities should not interfere with the management of public order.
“As for this match in particular, Hardrock FC management brought down the number of police officers from the agreed 80 to 40 police officers.”
Investigations are continuing, with police promising that every person linked to the violence will be identified and arrested.
The match was abandoned while the teams were level at 1–1.
This is a classic case of passing the buck. Firstly what determines the number of security personnel required for any event? What would be the difference between controlling a 10 000 crowd or a 15 000 crowd? We hear that there was another 5000 odd crowd that was trying to get into the stadium as well. Would that have necessitated a change in the number of police officers required? If truth be told, mayhem would have happened whether there were 20 or 300 police officers and the effectiveness of controlling the situation would have been anyone’s guess. Use scientific methods of determining these outcomes. We should always shy away from methods that are effective. After encountering similar situations before, have authorities learnt from these past experiences? And what effective solutions have they developed? If 90 officers were enough to manage the situation, why did police allow the match to proceed after noticing that only half the required number had been hired? This was a case of national security. People could have died. Don’t organizers follow certain procedures to determine if all the right boxes have been ticked before the match? Desist from passing blame here. All people that carried responsibilities slept on the duty, PSL, football clubs, ZIFA, police and organisers. We know Zimbabwe is now blessed with big numbers of lunatics and idiots. Operation methods must change to suit the new look Zimbabwe. The youths of today aren’t the same as those of the 70s and 80s. Today we are faced by youths that are driven by drugs and bad behaviour.