.

Generally, 2010 made for some dizzying highs that could only spawn optimists all around about the future of the sport here.

But scenes such as those witnessed on Saturday night at Orlando Stadium - perhaps the midwife that more than helped deliver professional football in this country - are a giant leap backwards.

Though the jury might still be out and due process has to be respected, what Orlando Pirates fans did to vent their anger over the 0-3 loss to SuperSport United - pelting players and officials with all sorts of missiles and turning the pitch into a rubbish dump - is unacceptable.

That such thuggery was visited on hallowed turf is regrettable.

The problem is that football authorities in this country have always trodden carefully around the problem and meted out ridiculously lenient sentences.

This has done little to improve behaviour in the stands and has conversely almost encouraged louts who pass for soccer fans to take advantage and wreak havoc like they did on Saturday night.

The harshest penalty handed to a club whose supporters rioted has been the banishment of spectators at matches. The self-same Pirates and rivals Kaizer Chiefs have had a taste of that. But clearly it is not working.

A new and stricter approach is needed.

The Premier Soccer League should rid itself of this inexplicable fear of so-called big clubs. We think it's time clubs are docked points and the hooligans barred from stadiums.

In the main it's just a few rotten apples that spoil the pack but until a way is found to isolate them the problem will simply not disappear.

Proper ticketing was supposed to be one of the legacies of the World Cup and would have come in handy when the need arose to spot offenders and throw the book at them. We would suggest that criminal charges bepursued as well.

Reserved seating worked so well during the World Cup we wonder why the system was not carried over into the local game.

For several seasons now the seating arrangements at the Soweto Derby, matches between Pirates and Chiefs, have been a disaster waiting to happen. Instead of separating fans as is the norm the world over, the two sets of supporters sit shoulder to shoulder these days.

A few fist fights broke out at the Pirates-SuperSport match on Saturday. Similar altercations at the derby could leave this country mourning unnecessary losses of life.

Comments

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Thu May 23 11:17:34 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 27, 2012

DJ-Winner

ha ha ha...Yalo o rata Chiefs, neh? Just admit that you are a fan, it's natural....
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Aug 27, 2012

Fanle

Hahahahahahaha Yalooooo. Gooood One, we can offer a funeral plan for only R5 per month for all Makakaniya "Golliras FC" players
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Aug 27, 2012

kenyobasupervisor

Nice one yalo
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Aug 27, 2012

kenyobasupervisor

next time come with petrol ka gore more is still to come. ke bona Orlando stadium e tukile lorelore
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Aug 27, 2012

Skopokopo

Kikikikikikikikiki Wafa! Wafa! a Funeral Cover is needed indeed kikikikikikikikikiki
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Aug 27, 2012

Mosquer

McKena
Yalo you Moegoe , Blo0dy Agent.
*******************************************
While he was teasing KC you were smiling talking nonsense. Now it's your turn FEEL IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Aug 27, 2012

MasheleJ

The biggest problem with African soccer is that very few players have learnt how to score a goal.

A good example is the performance of Super Sports United over the weekend when every SSU goal was tipped into the net as though making a deleicate pass. And it looked good too! Very well done, SSU!

All other teams fire away, with maximum effort, at the goalmouth as though their lives depended on it. Mostly, they just miss ludicrously. Our local style of play is to just hammer away without much finesse.

Study the Spanish [Barcelona or Mardid] and note that they don't do much running themselves, they make the ball run. But watching a local Afican game gives the impression of watching a 22 man riot. Pirates were starting to get it right earlier this year but have now managed to slip into their old bad habits.

There are no such things as an African, European, English or Brazillian style. The only style that is important is the winning style, first used by Brazil many times and now copied by the Spanish.

The Spanish game also now demonstrates much of the grace more usually found in the corrida [look it up] and that's what makes their games worth watching...
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Aug 27, 2012

Mellow

LMAO Yalo honestly now hahhahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
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Aug 27, 2012

And-Then

Our football sucks big time with no quality or technical abilitites from our players...I will never waste my money on a ticket to watch this sh!t.....not even the 2 top teams in the country can fill up their stadiums, even if they play against each other for that matter...tells you allot indeed.
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Aug 27, 2012

1937

What about Sundrunks??. Boring cartoon though. Lack of creativity, even a 3 year old can do better than this.
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