Mamelodi Sundowns Co Coach Manqoba Mngqithi Calls for the Reopening of Stadiums as State of Disaster Extended

• Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has once again called on the relevant authorities to fully reopen stadiums to spectators
• Around 2 000 supporters were in the stands at the FNB Stadium last Saturday to watch Mamelodi Sundowns defeat Al Ahly 1-0 in a CAF Champions League match
• Mngqithi said that allowing more fans into stands would also boost South African teams as they look to be successful in continental competitions

Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi has pleaded with the government to allow fans fully back into stadiums.

This comes after 2 000 supporters were allowed to watch Mamelodi Sundowns triumph over Egyptian rivals Al Ahly 1-0 in the CAF Champions League last Saturday. The passion scene from these predominantly Sundowns spectators gave the home side the necessary drive to get over the finish line, reckoned Mngqithi.

Mngqithi said to TimesLIVE:

“I think SA must look at this thing (the return of the fans) very closely. We had the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon (where the fans were allowed to attend matches). And if we really think as country we’ve rolled out our vaccination and we’ve done very well, and we think we’re a bigger country than most in terms of our level of development, then we should be a little bit more confident.

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“We have more people vaccinated in our country and for that reason, we should even show confidence to outside countries by also opening this thing up. If you’ve got these people sitting on this side of the stadium what’s the difference if you got the same thing happening on the other side, the other side and the other side.

“If there’s still a risk, there was a risk today. But there’s no risk. When we go to Al Ahly they’re open for more than 5,000 people but we open for 2,000 — no. The playing fields are not the same and in the Champions League we need that support. But I also believe that even in the [SA] league we need a bit more in terms of allowing the spectators now because I don’t understand.

“If you go to Egypt there are spectators, you go to Afcon [the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon] there are spectators, but SA still does not have spectators. It’s like maybe we’re trying to make sure that people buy more subscriptions [for satellite television] to watch more games at home instead of making sure that the game is watched in the stadium.”

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Citizen questions government logic of allowing pupils in packed classrooms but not allowing fans into stadiums

A social media user asked a pertinent question about the inconsistent applications lockdown regulations in publication spaces.

As reported on Sports Brief, Lesley Makhaya de Vos (@lezdevos) tweeted how some classrooms across the country are packed beyond capacity with vaccinated and unvaccinated learners, while other public and well ventilated venues like stadiums are either still closed to spectators or very few spectators are allowed in.