No joy for Mama Joy at Orlando Stadium

Whether this was a case of miscommunication or just good old pettiness from an old lover, Mama Joy couldn’t do what she loves most last night at Orlando Stadium, as she was denied entry to watch a Premier Soccer League match between her Royal AM team and Orlando Pirates.

In a video that has been making the rounds on social media, Mama Joy can be heard shouting at one of the stadium’s entrances that she’s been denied entry at Soweto’s most famous stadium.

“Guys I am here, I am not allowed to enter Orlando Stadium, I don’t know what I have done. I have my ticket with me here, but I am not allowed, I don’t know what’s going on,” said Mama Joy, real name Joy Chauke.

The ardent soccer fan left Orlando Pirates in late 2021, after supporting Amabhakabhaka for over 30 years, to join Shauwn Mkhize’s Royal AM in a shock move that left many perplexed.

But yesterday’s incident was unexpected, as Mama Joy has attended matches at Orlando Stadium since leaving Pirates for Royal AM.

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Stranded outside the stadium

Draped in the blue colours of the KZN team, she was stationed at the gate with no assistance from the sturdy men guarding the entrance, who didn’t seem bothered to even check the validity of her ticket.

“They can’t allow me to go in,” she screams in the video. “Here is the ticket, here’s my ticket. I got it from TicketPro. No one explained [anything], I am just here.”

Those adjacent could be heard questioning as to why she can’t be let in since the ticket was not even a complimentary one, but one she purchased herself. But some security personnel also seemed dumbfounded why she couldn’t be let it.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika this morning, an emotional Mama Joy explained that she even went to the police station for an intervention.

“After going to [the] police station to report that I’ve been denied access to go to the stadium, the police intervened and when I went there [to the stadium] it was half-time. I waited for Nhlanhla, Pirates security to come, because they said without him I can’t enter, I have to wait for him,” Mama Joy said.

They said Pirates security personnel eventually came to meet her but the second half had commenced already by the time he came.

“This has never happened; I’ve never had anything like this. I’ve been in all over, I was in Lusail Stadium in Qatar, they were waiting for me… no one has ever denied me entry. Why Orlando Stadium, they must not do that to me maan,” Mama Joy said crying.

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Certainly not a good look

This is not a good look for South African football, more so because this is a woman that loves the game with a passion second to none and for her to be denied entry for no apparent reason, reeks off pettiness of an old lover scorned.

Also speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Managing Director of Stadium Management SA Bertie Grobbelaar said in the debrief report he received is that Mama Joy arrived before gates were opened.

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