BFL to probe unruly behavior
As tempers flared during a pulsating Gaborone derby on Saturday, a few innocent souls who attended the match suffered the wrath of some frustrated supporters who questioned the decisions of the match officials at some point.
Gaborone United claimed the bragging rights of derby, stunning their arch-rivals Township Rollers by two goals without reply, leaving the city painted red, which unfortunately was also taints of blood from some victims of hooliganism.
Some bottles were thrown into the pitch and proved to be hazardous enough to land some spectators to hospital beds. Close sources suggest the Botswana Football League (BFL) are set to engage over stringent measures to deter such unfortunate instances in the future.
The specter of football hooliganism has once again sparked calls for draconian measures to be put in place to tackle violence and pitch invasions during match days in the aftermath of what was a beautiful derby encounter. The BFL acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bennett Mamelodi has expressed resolute condemnation of the weekend’s unruly behaviour and stated that stern action will be taken against all involved in that melee.
“We are awaiting the match report from the referee and the necessary action will be taking based on the contents of that report. If an individual is identified to have caused disruptions in accordance with the contents of the report [referee’s match report] appropriate action will be taken,” Mamelodi told Sun Sport.
The BFL chief has also admitted that there is a need to strengthen security at the match and apply all security laws in place, including the barring of bottled beverages from entering the premises of the stadiums. “As things stand, bottles are not allowed into the stadiums, if bottles find their way into the stadium then it is a breach of security which is another thing that we need to look into; how effective is the security personnel hired to come in and preside over games, it is something we need to carefully look into,” the BFL acting Chief shared.
Pitch invasion and related crowd problems are deemed serious offenses by both CAF and FIFA and could result in severe punishments for the concerned parties. Mamelodi added that ‘considerable’ amount of education needs to be relayed to tackle these problems which have become a norm in the country.
The BFL CEO reiterated the BFL’s commitment to the principles of unity and respect in the sport and indicated that the local top tier league management are steadfast on upholding the integrity of football.
“It must be noted that, the technical parameter in terms of access are determined by FIFA, high walls and fences are not allowed, so considerable amount of education has to go to the fans. The deployment of security personnel are there for a reason to deny people unwarranted entrances to the stadium.
More work needs to be done, it is something that we never want to see again and we will prioritize to arrest such, it should not happen. We want to deliver a clean and attractive product to out to the people and we remain committed to achieve that,” he said.
Quizzed on whether security at the game was compromised Mamelodi stated: “There is a room for improvement, there is a lot that we need to work on but there are other instances in the past where things didn’t go well so there is definitely a room for improvement.”