SOWETAN | Chiefs fan ban: punish violence instigators

The Premier Soccer League’s decision to punish Kaizer Chiefs after their fans’ violent behaviour at a recent game is another indication that our league still has a long way to go to stamp out hooliganism.

PSL prosecutor Zola Majavu announced yesterday that Chiefs will play their next league match – against Cape Town Spurs next Wednesday – behind closed doors after their fans pelted then coach Molefi Ntseki with objects following a loss to AmaZulu in the Carling Knockout on October 21.

As we report today, it was a third such incident from Chiefs in the past year, with another former coach, Arthur Zwane, having been treated with similar violence by fans after a loss to SuperSport United in Rustenburg. Ntseki had been previously harangued by angry fans at Mbombela Stadium three months ago.

But will forcing the club to play in front of empty terraces be of any help? We don’t think so. After all, it’s not as if Chiefs attract big crowds at FNB Stadium for their midweek home games. They would probably have pulled a crowd of just under 10,000 in the 90,000-seat venue.

What would be a deterrent is slapping instigators of violence with bans, rather than targeting only the club. Previous sanctions meted on Chiefs included them issuing an apology for their supporters’ behaviour, and urging them to calm down. That evidently has not helped.

But individuals who misbehaved in the stands in Rustenburg were probably in attendance at FNB two weeks ago, and could easily have instigated another confrontation without being detected simply because the PSL has no means to identify stadium miscreants.

The league is partners with broadcasters SuperSport which brings well over a dozen cameras to each match, but still fans are allowed to get away with nonchalant violent acts when they can be pointed out clearly, prosecuted and possibly face lengthy bans from match venues.

If the PSL truly wanted to effect a fan ban, why couldn’t it tell Chiefs they cannot allow fans in the Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates, which takes place three days after the Spurs match? The league wouldn’t dare do that because it knows such as fixture is a money spinner for everyone involved in the football value chain.

But it is gimmicky to ban fans from a game which not too many people would have attended anyway. Even more laughable is to punish only the club when the real perpetrators can turn up for the  biggest game three days later.