Sports / Soccer
Fights over seats caused Mandava violence
29 Sep 2017 at 06:44hrs | Views
A ROW over occupancy of a stand at Mandava Stadium allegedly triggered a fallout between Highlanders and Harare City supporters that resulted in a section of fans storming the pitch, scurrying for cover.
A few Harare City fans were reportedly treated for injuries at a local hospital following skirmishes with alleged Bosso supporters in a Chibuku Super Cup match played in Zvishavane last Sunday.
Bosso lost the encounter 1-2.
Harare City secretary general Matthew Marara, who was at Mandava Stadium when the skirmishes took place, blamed Highlanders supporters for turning rogue.
"Our supporters, sitting on the eastern stand, were confronted by a handful of Highlanders fans and instructed to leave the stand. It's surprising why the Highlanders supporters would do that because theirs was the southern stand so they had no business confronting our fans.
"Objects were thrown at our fans and they were left with no choice but to seek refuge in the middle of the pitch. Four of our fans were injured and treated at the Zvishavane General Hospital," said Marara.
But Bosso chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube sang a totally different tune.
"There were between 50 Harare City fans (including a band playing various instruments) sitting on a stand that also had not more than 15 supporters clad in black and white colours but we (Highlanders executive) were too far to hear whatever conversations that could have been exchanged and the next thing we saw Harare City fans pouring onto the pitch.
"When the match finally resumed the Harare City fans had moved to a stand facing the Highlanders technical team bench," said Dube.
In a typical case of accusations and counter accusations, the Bosso CEO queried the timing of the so called confrontation between the two sets of supporters.
"Just when Highlanders was playing some really good football, suddenly Harare City fans storm the pitch and the match was stopped for over 10 minutes. We have every reason to believe it could have been a ploy by the supporters to disrupt play because their team was under immense pressure," said Dube.
Harare City have since lodged a complaint with the PSL.
No arrests were made in the aftermath of the disturbances.
A few Harare City fans were reportedly treated for injuries at a local hospital following skirmishes with alleged Bosso supporters in a Chibuku Super Cup match played in Zvishavane last Sunday.
Bosso lost the encounter 1-2.
Harare City secretary general Matthew Marara, who was at Mandava Stadium when the skirmishes took place, blamed Highlanders supporters for turning rogue.
"Our supporters, sitting on the eastern stand, were confronted by a handful of Highlanders fans and instructed to leave the stand. It's surprising why the Highlanders supporters would do that because theirs was the southern stand so they had no business confronting our fans.
"Objects were thrown at our fans and they were left with no choice but to seek refuge in the middle of the pitch. Four of our fans were injured and treated at the Zvishavane General Hospital," said Marara.
But Bosso chief executive officer Nhlanhla Dube sang a totally different tune.
"There were between 50 Harare City fans (including a band playing various instruments) sitting on a stand that also had not more than 15 supporters clad in black and white colours but we (Highlanders executive) were too far to hear whatever conversations that could have been exchanged and the next thing we saw Harare City fans pouring onto the pitch.
"When the match finally resumed the Harare City fans had moved to a stand facing the Highlanders technical team bench," said Dube.
In a typical case of accusations and counter accusations, the Bosso CEO queried the timing of the so called confrontation between the two sets of supporters.
"Just when Highlanders was playing some really good football, suddenly Harare City fans storm the pitch and the match was stopped for over 10 minutes. We have every reason to believe it could have been a ploy by the supporters to disrupt play because their team was under immense pressure," said Dube.
Harare City have since lodged a complaint with the PSL.
No arrests were made in the aftermath of the disturbances.
Source - bmetro
