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Why Maritzburg fans guarded stadium ahead of Chiefs tie
“We were keeping an eye on everything that was happening in the venue. We checked everyone going in and out.”
Siyethemba Sithebe of Kaizer Chiefs and Rowan Human of Maritzburg United battling it out at Harry Gwala Stadium. Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
A group of Maritzburg United fans are reported to have camped outside Harry Stadium from Friday night until Saturday morning.
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This was so they could keep Kaizer Chiefs from accessing the venue until match day with suspicions that Amakhosi wanted to spy on Maritzburg and ‘fix the stadium’.
It has emerged that two men who are alleged to have been clad in Chiefs colours tried to enter the stadium while Maritzburg were training on Friday afternoon.
But they were prevented from entering and later the Maritzburg fans decided to keep guard of the stadium the whole night.
Maritzburg chairman Farouk Kadodia confirmed to Isolezwe that he had received a report of the incident.
The report also quoted Maritzburg fan Don Dos Santos confirming that they were forced to keep guard of the stadium.
“We were keeping an eye on everything that was happening in the venue. We checked everyone going in and out,” Dos Santos is quoted as saying.
An unnamed source is, meanwhile, quoted saying that they suspected the people who tried to gain entry during Maritzburg’s training were coming to spy.
Chiefs suspected of spying
“We are not sure what they wanted to do. But we suspect they were trying to spy on our team because we are playing Chiefs.
“They even had a camera with them. But luckily they were caught before they could do anything,” said the source.
The game was sold out and lived up to its billing with the drama unfolding on the pitch just as much as it had off it.
It was however the Chiefs supporters who came out smiling after their team eked out a 3-2 win.
But it came off a debatable penalty in the dying minutes of the match. Maritzburg had come back from 2-0 down to level before the penalty was awarded.
The win kept Chiefs in contention for a second place finish in the DStv Premiership.
Maritzburg were left languishing in the relegation zone with 21 points after 23 games.
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With seven games to go, the Team of Choice really need to start collecting points now.
They will hope for a better outcome when they meet TS Galaxy on April 2. Chiefs host Stellenbosch FC on April 1 in their next league game.
