Tuesday afternoon's violence at Loftus Versfeld Stadium following the CAF Champions League match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance de Tunis has raised concerns about the safety of supporters at football stadiums.
After Sundowns' 1-0 victory, a clash erupted between the two teams' supporters, leading to chaos and objects being thrown at each other and onto the pitch.
Read: How The Fan Violence Unfolded: Sundowns V Esperance
The situation has left many supporters fearful for their safety at future matches.
Prominent Kaizer Chiefs supporter Fefe Sonti weighed in on the incident, highlighting the deep emotional connection fans have with football and the importance of unity in the sport.
She appealed to all supporters, regardless of the club they support, to stand against hooliganism and promote peace in stadiums.
Sonti also stressed the need for improved security measures at matches, questioning how dangerous items were allowed into the stadium in the first place.
While she acknowledged Sundowns' gesture of offering free entry to some matches, she suggested that ticket distribution should be better managed, possibly through supporter branches, to avoid similar situations.
Sonti also expressed concern for the safety of fans traveling to away matches, particularly the second leg in Tunisia, and called for authorities to ensure that supporters feel secure both at home and abroad.
"For us the supporters of the sport, football is our life, and we love this game more than anything. Even our families don't know us the way we are known by the fellow football supporters because of our bond and always being together all in the name of football. I am appealing to all the supporters, irrespective of the club we support, to please fight hooliganism at our stadiums in love and peace. There is no place for hooligans in our stadiums," said Sonti, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
"To the powers that be in our favourite clubs, they must please always make sure that the security is tight in our stadiums. There were bottles flying there and some other objects, and the question is how all these things entered the stadium? Our authorities should understand that we are not asking for too much really, and we are just asking for our safety to be guaranteed," she said.
Read: 'Chiefs Need A Player Like Mofokeng From Pirates'
"To Sundowns and their supporters, and don't get me wrong because your system of free entry to the stadium for some matches is nice and a good gesture, but I feel it should be handled better. As the club, you can either hand the tickets to supporters' branches and let them handle the issuing of the tickets to the right supporters or find another better way to handle it. What we saw at Loftus yesterday was very bad and I was even crying as a result of how heartbroken I was because of the situation. We have family members working and living in other countries like that one (Tunisia), and we might also go there in future, and how safe will we be if we find ourselves there? Sundowns have a second leg game to play against the same team, and who knows how they will be treated there. We have brothers and children who support Sundowns and we don't want them to feel unsafe when they go to the stadium. I blame the security. For me, the security personnel and the police reacted late to the situation and that is disappointing," concluded Sonti.
In response to inquiries about the post-match incidents that occurred at the stadium, the Siya crew reached out to Loftus Versfeld Stadium Operations Manager, Hugo Kemp.
"With regards to the match and the incidents that took place, unfortunately you will need to contact Sundowns Football Club. They rent the stadium from us – they are the event organiser, and they employ their security and their security plans. We are not involved with the operational running of their event," Kemp explained.
Sundowns were also contacted for comment, but no response had been received at the time of publishing.
For all your exclusive football content and breaking news, join our WhatsApp Channel here.
By Masebe Qina
Follow him here on Facebook here on X
