One of the pre-2010 World Cup mantras was that apart from leaving a lasting legacy in terms of the infrastructure for the domestic game, it would help improve South African football’s image, for years associated with thuggish behaviour and glaring unprofessionalism.
But disappointingly, hardly two years after Sepp Blatter and his Fifa people departed SA with huge grins, having fulfilled the dreams of many by bringing the biggest single sport event to this country, we are from time to time left to ponder if the World Cup was ever here.
Aside from taking the magnificent roads when travelling to the equally world-class stadiums, very little would tell of a country which learnt anything from the global showpiece.
Just two weeks ago, chaos reigned supreme at Soccer City, the venue for that memorable final between Holland and Spain in July 2010, when Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates met in the Carling Cup pre-season match.
The match was delayed by 20 minutes to allow entry into the stadium for fans who had been stuck outside for hours, having had to contend with clueless traffic officials and marshals. Admittedly, most of the fans still prefer to arrive late at the stadium and thus cannot be entirely blameless for the chaos which necessitated the delay.
A family member who attended the Soweto Derby for the first time related how, after entering the stadium, she was sent from pillar to post by security people who could not direct her to where she was supposed to sit. Eventually, she settled for any seat – and this is what is flawed about our post-World Cup arrangements.
For the said Soweto Derby friendly, ticket prices ranged from R40 to R150, but you would find that those with tickets for a certain area did not bother to sit there at all or, most probably, arrived late only to find someone else had taken their place.
As a consequence of their tardiness, and the traffic madness outside Soccer City, some fans had to watch the derby on the big screens inside the stadium, their view blocked by people who had clambered on to chairs just to get a glimpse of the game.
The fans then resorted to jumping a barrier that separates the media tribune from the stands, causing mayhem and panic among members of the fourth estate. We were thankful that the police reacted swiftly and the miscreants were ejected without any major commotion, but the picture really didn’t make for pleasant viewing.
For a start, we should not have a situation where a match kicks off 20 minutes late because people are stuck outside. One of the major problems about big football events at Soccer City in the last two years has been that people without parking tickets get too close to the stadium, and argue with officials who correctly demand entry permits.
This causes a major gridlock and even those with legitimate parking tickets are caught in this mess, something which was unheard of during the World Cup. Anyone without a valid parking ticket ought to be prevented coming anywhere near the main entrance of the stadium.
But because lessons were not learnt, you see fans without tickets cramming the stadium vicinity, causing unnecessary delays as seen a fortnight ago. It would help, too, if the PSL and authorities would insist on adherence to seating arrangements for such big events. A friend once travelled to a Super Rugby match at Loftus and chose to sit anywhere. He was shocked when legitimate ticket holders for that seat arrived and told him to move over (he confessed to shouting “racism!”).
The fact is during the World Cup you could not just sit anywhere, or drive to the stadium without a valid entry permit. Today, however, fans can jump into the media area with impunity. Some of these fans are also given free rein to attend press conferences – as seen at the PSL offices this week – causing untold havoc. The PSL must get rid of this intolerable level of unprofessionalism.
l Follow Matshe on Twitter @Nkareng