PSL charges Chiefs after chaos at match

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has charged Kaizer Chiefs for bringing the league into disrepute and misconduct following the violent scenes at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban at the weekend.

This comes after angry fans invaded the pitch on Saturday night‚ assaulted supporters and security officials and caused damage amounting to millions of rands after Chiefs’ Nedbank Cup semifinal defeat by Free State Stars.

A security guard was seriously injured after being beaten unconscious.

Chiefs will appear before the PSL disciplinary committee on May 3 at 6pm.

Yesterday, Phelelani Jojisa‚ the only man arrested in connection with the violence so far, was remanded in custody.

The 34-year-old made a brief appearance in the Durban Regional Court on charges of malicious damage to property and pitch invasion. He will appear in court again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary portfolio committee on sport and recreation wants the PSL to explain what it is doing to deal with hooliganism,

Committee chairwoman Beauty Dlulane said yesterday the committee was disgusted by the behaviour of the soccer fans on Saturday.

“We know that in each match there are plans before the match starts,” she said.

“Therefore‚ we would love to hear from the PSL what is it that is not correctly done now and then in those stadiums.

“We cannot just fold our arms. One of our duties is to do oversight in whatever is related to sport.”
PSL chairman Irvin Khoza said poor planning by police was partly to blame for the violence at Moses Mabhida.

Khoza said police were often found wanting ahead of major soccer matches and there had been times when they simply did not turn up at crucial meetings during the planning stages.

“What has happened is that when there are issues of this nature like on Saturday‚ where the game was medium-risk‚ understand that the authority lies with the VOC [the police’s Venue Operations Centre] commander‚” he said.

“The VOC commander is the only person who can instruct deployment when an incident of that nature happens.

“If he has not issued an instruction‚ nobody can move there to give inter vention.

“Now when you come to the PSL‚ the club is charged for whatever offence and when you look for reports there is one report that is always missing – and that is the report of the VOC commander.

“I understand that in football terms it is the match commissioner who is responsible for this‚ but insofar as the event itself is concerned‚ the VOC commander is in charge in terms of giving direction.”

The police said yesterday a high-level team had been appointed to investigate the incident.

“The office of the acting provincial commissioner did receive a plan for the policing of the match which was informed by the risk categorisation and threat assessment‚” the police statement said.

“We will be probing if the deployment of SAPS‚ private security personnel and other security agencies was in place according to the plan, and whether those that were deployed to provide security at the event reacted as they were expected to and whether they were in a position to prevent the hooliganism and criminality that unfolded.

“We condemn the actions of those spectators responsible for the violent behaviour that we witnessed at what should have been a sporting event.

“Our investigators are working around the clock to bring the perpetrators to book.” – TimesLIVE