Taking Nedbank Cup final to Moses Mabhida was a recipe for disaster

News24

11-05-2025

Reuters
The ticketing issues and safety concerns suggest logistical challenges.
There have been significant ticketing controversies, including issues with overselling and ticket distribution.
Some safety concerns have been raised.
I was there on 11 April 2001 during the Ellis Park disaster and would not want to see a repeat of that fateful night. It is still the night to forget in my journalism profession, but it is etched in my memory as if it had happened yesterday. What I remember vividly is not only the scores of bodies lying at the north end of the field but also a frantic and panicked search for my brother and friends among the spectators. Staying not far from the venue at the time, we had walked to the stadium, and while I disappeared into the media tribune, they went to sit with the masses.
What ensued thereafter was unimaginable, unfortunate and unforgettable.
While I was there to cover the game, I couldn't help but put on my civic hat, as I found myself down on the pitch trying to help before it dawned on me about my brother's and friends' whereabouts in the ensuing melée. My heart was racing nonstop as I started a frantic search for them.
With cellphones left behind, this proved to be a futile exercise. Were they safely home; were they trapped somewhere; or were they among the dead bodies, I asked myself. It was unbearable and unthinkable. I couldn't wait to get home and found endless missed calls from family members who had been trying to get hold of us to ascertain our safety. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard a knock on the door, and my relief at seeing all of them coming back home alive was palpable.
The 2001 Ellis Park disaster scenes have been playing in my mind this week following Saturday's Nedbank Cup final tickets fiasco.
With the PSL opting to take this massive game to the small Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, it was inevitable that there was going to be chaos with the ticket sales.
So, it did not come as a surprise with the major ticketing controversy, which left thousands of fans frustrated after failed transactions and unfulfilled purchases.
RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Taking a game of this magnitude to Moses Mabhida was a recipe for disaster from the onset, and the league should shoulder the blame should anything happen there, and supporters are justified in being outraged and frustrated.
This decision flies in the face of the Ngoepe Commission, which recommended that the Soweto derby be played at the bigger FNB Stadium, which has a capacity of 94 000.
But what the PSL is doing by taking the Nedbank Cup final to Moses Mabhida, which has a capacity of about 56 000, is playing with fire and supporters' lives.
Moreover, citing an 'unprecedented surge in demand' as the cause of the chaos is laughable, flimsy and myopic, to say the least.
It is an insult to football people, as all the previous derbies have been sold-out affairs.
The organisers are to blame for the ticket sales chaos, and supporters have every right to be frustrated.
SHAMBOLIC NATURE
In fact, if ever there was a marker of the shambolic nature of how the PSL has conducted itself this season, the Nedbank Cup final ticketing farce is everything shameful about the league.
Granted, a clash of events (with the Ultra Music Festival) forced a move from Nasrec to Stamford Hill, where the Moses Mabhida Stadium is based, but the matter could have been handled so much better.
Firstly, the PSL should have been transparent about what Open Tickets is and what its capabilities are regarding bulk ticket sales. One thing clear is that Open Tickets appeared to be inefficient, as its system broke down several times.
This system has not been tested to the full extent of its capacity, and trying it now is not the right time. It should be introduced slowly and systematically to eliminate all the teething problems.
The first league derby that saw the FNB Stadium being terribly overcrowded quickly exposed Ticketpro's shortcomings, and whatever changes were made for last week's return league derby, they worked.
Yes, the move to Moses Mabhida may not have been a bad decision, as the derby has been successfully hosted by Durban before. However, they haven't dealt with a final of this kind of expectation, especially from Kaizer Chiefs' perspective, with the kind of trophy drought they've experienced.
They hinged their hopes on Nasreddine Nabi bringing them glory in the first season, and the fact that they reached the final meant a lot to them.
That alone should have pointed the PSL to waiting for some sort of conclusion to Pirates' CAF Champions League campaign, and since that ended earlier than José Riveiro wished, the final could have been held back to 1 June.
Someone must explain to us why Moses Mabhida Stadium is hosting so many cup finals, as if it is the only stadium in South Africa, because their love for this stadium will create a disaster one day.
We don't want a situation where we will come back and say we told you so. Ellis Park was too much for some of us, and we don't want a repeat of that. Assomblief tog!