Having hosted and won the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, and having hosted the 2010 World Cup, one would have thought that South Africa, as a sporting nation, had matured.
Alas, the incident on Saturday at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria, where local team Mamelodi Sundowns and the Egyptian soccer team Al Ahly locked horns in a CAF Champions League encounter, has proved otherwise. Ugly scenes are shown on social media of an unruly mob, ostensibly Sundowns fans, mocking and insulting the visiting team, in particular team manager Pitso Mosimane.
Fans wearing the colours of Sundowns temporarily blocked a bus carrying the Egyptian team to the stadium and held placards, many of which contained abuse aimed at South African-born Mosimane.
Mosimane guided Sundowns with huge success from 2012 until last September when he became the first sub-Saharan African to coach north African soccer giants Ahly since the club was formed in 1907. We welcome the news that the SA Football Association will probe the incident.
While we applaud Sundowns for extending an apology to the Egyptians, we are worried about reports that the Chloorkop outfit’s apology was not extended to Mosimane. We can only imagine what could have happened inside the stadium had the fans been allowed in.
Amasandawane fans, famous for the “Sky is the Limit” slogan, this time stooped to rock-bottom levels.
What happened outside the Tshwane stadium, aptly named after Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe, will certainly not sit well with the living legend. Our football stars are revered all over the world and many have plied their trade on many global stages.
The likes of Steve “Kalamazoo” Mokone, the first black South African to play professionally in the European league, Pule “Ace” Ntsoelengoe and John “Shoes” Moshoeu must be turning in their graves over such incidents.
Matsilele “Jomo” Sono, Kaizer Motaung, Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Shaun Bartlett – the list goes on – must have their stomachs turning after this incident that had all the hallmarks of tarnishing their glorious images built over many years.
The Star