Security breach at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium threatens Bafana Bafana's AFCON hopes

HERMAN GIBBS

There were shades of Mbombela as the enterprising Bafana Bafana sparked first-half high jinks at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, in Gqeberha, on Friday evening.

The scenes at Friday's AFCON clash between South Africa and Congo-Brazzaville stirred the memory of the Springboks' recent exhilarating performance against the All Blacks. Local fans could not contain the excitement, and a few fans invaded the pitch.

The one difference was that the Mbombela pitch invaders waited till after the game. In Gqeberha, however, fans were overwhelmed with excitement midway through the first half after Player of the Match Teboho Mokoena had given Bafana Bafana a 2-0 lead.

All the players and officials are now on board and ready for departure from Gqeberha to Congo Brazzaville. Departure from Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport, Gqeberha, is at 12h00 and right on schedule.#BafanaPride pic.twitter.com/W24h9CcVUG

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana) October 13, 2024

Mokoena's brilliance brought the roof down as the 35,000-strong crowd roared in excitement. This sparked two separate pitch invasions in quick succession as a handful of fans ran wild with gay abandon on the hallowed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium turf.

The Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida, who blew the 2023 AFCON final in Abidjan earlier this year, showed great presence of mind and held court unflustered. He spoke to the captains and coaches about the need for security and warned that more interruptions would force him to abandon the game.

After stopping play, Beida restarted the match, and there were no further incidents as SAFA beefed up the security around the stadium perimeter.

The match commissioner Eswatini's Timothy Shongwe, the chairman of COSAFA's competitions committee, afterwards told Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos that the match would have been abandoned if there had been more pitch invasions.

In that case, Congo would be awarded a 3-0 walkover, and hosts Safa would have been punished by CAF. Despite Bafana Bafana's resounding 5-0 win, Broos was unhappy with the high jinks on the playing field.

Broos demanded that Safa provide adequate security at future matches. Of late, there has been vastly improved crowd turnouts at Bafana Bafana's matches and if the team continues in a winning vein, more capacity crowds are in the offing.

One can expect that Safa's hierarchy will be on tenterhooks because the match commissioner's report is bound to draw attention to SAFA's failure to provide adequate security. CAF regards inadequate security as a serious offence because of the danger of harm to the players and officials on the pitch.

There is also a matter of Congo's players returning to the dressing room with the referee's blessing moments after two fans brought play to a halt for a second time. Congo's team management could object to the referee allowing play to continue after the unscheduled 20-minute break.

All will be revealed after Tuesday's second leg between Congo and South Africa in Brazzaville. CAF would have the match commissioner's report by now, but they are unlikely to make pronouncements before Tuesday's Brazzaville showdown.