The Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance clash was marred by fan violence, as some supporters went home strapped with bandages and blood covering their t-shirts.
South African club Sundowns edged Tunisian giants Esperance 1-0 in the CAF Champions League quarter-final first leg at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, courtesy of a goal from their Namibian marksman Peter Shalulile. The slender lead was worth celebrating, but what followed at the final whistle was shocking, as supporters of both sides engaged in violence.
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It got to a point where Esperance had to wait on the pitch after the final whistle to be escorted by police, to avoid any further violence. Police waited for the situation to cool down before escorting them out of the stadium.
Soccer Laduma spoke to two Sundowns supporters who were at the stadium. They both expectedly provided the point of view of local fans.
"After the final whistle, the Esperance fans started attacking Sundowns fans. It happened for about five to 10 minutes and then Sundowns fans from around the stadium went up there to go defend their people," said the Downs supporter, who did not want to be named.
"They even threw lit flares at Sundowns fans. These people were unruly. My friend caught the same Gautrain as some of them. They were smoking inside the train," the South African fan added.
A second local supporter, who got injured, spoke to Soccer Laduma and believes that the drama started long before kickoff.
"First, on the Gautrain, the Esperance fans were smoking and drinking. People think it started on the stadium. It started on the Gautrain, at Hatfield. They were drunk and swearing at Sundowns fans. (Sundowns) Fans got riled up before the game. They were disrespectful towards the fans. On a normal day, you can't even have gum on the Gautrain, but they were smoking and drinking. Hatfield was a mess because of the Esperance fans," the Sundowns supporter said.
"At the game, they were entering at gate 11. That was their designated area. As you know, the stadium was packed, so people were going out in numbers. As we were leaving the stadium, the Esperance fans started hitting the Sundowns fans with bottles. They started shaking the barricade, injuring the Sundowns fans. They were being hooligans and unruly. The first group of Sundowns fans shrugged it off. Eventually, the Sundowns fans fought back."
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"They broke the cable ties that were holding the barricade together and started going at Sundowns fans. Honestly speaking, the Sundowns fans were not fighting back. For some, it was out of self defence, but it was not a case where they were trying to intentionally hurt the Tunisians. They took the crates that vendors use and they started throwing them at Sundowns fans. They used anything as a weapon. They broke the chairs. If you go to that section, you will see that chairs are broken. They took pieces of those chairs and tried to stab Sundowns supporters. There were supporters bleeding from their faces. Security was fearing for their lives as well. It was one or two that could help. I thought my life was in danger. When the police came in, they made it seem like the Sundowns fans were the problem because the Sundowns fans were not the problem. Police sprayed pepper spray on Sundowns fans."
Soccer Laduma was unable to speak to any Esperance fans for their perspective of the fan violence before publishing this article. Both Tunisian and South African supporters were seen engaging in violent and unruly behaviour after the game, as witnessed by the Siya crew at the stadium and seen on videos posted on social media.
Esperance have since released a statement defending their fans and hinting they are lodging a complaint to CAF, believing that their supporters were exposed to violence at Loftus.
Free entry was given to certain Sundowns supporters for this clash and they turned out in their numbers. Esperance had around 600 supporters at the stadium.
CAF is expected to step in to investigate what happened, with sanctions a possibility for both sides.
