We weren’t aware of Sukazi scuffle, says Pirates defender Shandu

As Orlando Pirates prepare to host TS Galaxy at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday, memories of last season’s scuffle between Tim Sukazi and Bucs officials is still fresh on the people’s minds, but defender Bandile Shandu says as players, they have moved on from that incident.

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Footage of Pirates officials denying Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi entry into the Orlando Stadium went viral in December last year.

The matter has since been dealt with by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) DC, who found the Soweto giants guilty for putting the league, the game, Safa, CAF, Fifa and the sponsors into disrepute.

“As players, we weren’t even aware of that (the scuffle), we were focusing on the game. We only saw it after, and not even all of us. I am sure that most of the guys don’t really know what happened because we focus on what is happening on the field and doing our job on the field,” said Shandu during the club’s media open day at Rand Stadium on Thursday.

“So, what happens outside we are not aware, we just focus on what is happening inside the field and making sure that we come out victorious at the end of the day.”

Coming up against Galaxy, Shandu knows that they will be playing against a difficult team, but, says the most important thing that he and his teammates need to do is to focus on themselves and applying whatever they have been doing at training in the game.

“TS Galaxy is a very good team, but we just need to focus on ourselves and do what we have been preparing (in the game). As long as we pitch up, we play to the team’s strategy, to win the game, work together and fight together, and then I think we can get the result.”

Pirates will head into this game after they edged 1-0 by Maritzburg United, while Galaxy come off a morale boosting win over Cape Town City.