In what will send shock waves across the country, the PSL disciplinary committee has charged Kaizer Chiefs for the chaos that took place when Amakhosi faced Stellenbosch FC at the Danie Craven Stadium in the quarterfinals of the MTN8 last Sunday.
The match was a ticking time bomb after fans, who exceed the capacity of the small stadium, broke barricades and turnstiles and stormed into the venue. It is alleged that about 16 000 tickets were sold for the 15 000 capacity stadium. This resulted in the game being delayed for 30 minutes. Chiefs advanced to the semi-finals with a 4-3 victory via penalty shoot-outs, after the two sides finished 1-1 after extra time.
Kaizer Chiefs spokesperson Vina Maphosa has confirmed that they have been charged for pitch invasion and for bringing the league and its sponsors into disrepute. The club will appear before the league’s disciplinary committee on September 8.
However, Amakhosi will not take this lying down. “We received a charge sheet yesterday (Thursday) and we are still applying our mind. We are engaging the league to share with them our concerns with what transpired on match day,” said Maphosa.
“It was a cup game – this means it is a PSL event, and the league and the host team are responsible for security measures as well as preparations, and we have raised that with the league. After receiving the charge sheet, we are going to table it and interrogate it and then work out how we are going to respond,” Maphosa added.
There could have been a tragedy at the match with the manner in which the security was handled. After the fans stormed into the venue, they invaded the pitch to celebrate after Ashley du Preez equalised for Amakhosi in the second half. There was also a potential danger after the referee Jelly Chavani awarded Stellies an illegitimate penalty on the stroke of fulltime. Chavani later rescinded his decision and disallowed the penalty. Chiefs fans were enraged at the wrong call, and this could have turned the situation ugly.
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