Vryheid KZN – Level 2 regulations put a damper on local soccer league
"First of all, we do not have facilities; we play on open fields and therefore it becomes difficult to stop crowds from watching the games," said Shenge.
Lolo Madonsela
Alert Level 2 regulations may have eased a lot for South Africans, including sportsmen, but local football clubs feel they have not been taken into proper consideration.
The Vryheid Herald caught up with Bhomu Shenge, owner of the local Bhekuzulu United football club (playing in the SAB League), and he shared his dissatisfaction regarding the new regulations which state that football can be played but without the presence of spectators.
“Sport may be open, but when you look at the regulations, it is still affecting us on the lower level.
“First of all, we do not have facilities; we play on open fields and therefore it becomes difficult to stop crowds from watching the games,” said Shenge.
He said it doesn’t make sense that up to 50 people can gather together for an occasion, yet soccer cannot have any spectators at all.
“Our league never has a huge number of supporters when we are playing. It’s only when we’re playing a final that you may see between 50 and 100 people coming to watch the game – unlike the top league, the PSL, where there are games between Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns that attract a full capacity of supporters. Even in the PSL, other teams cannot fill the stadium to the brim, so why are they not allowing supporters at stadiums?
“For instance, in a stadium that can accommodate 50,000 supporters, they can practice social distancing by only allowing 20,000 supporters; then the grandstands will not be full,” he said.
Shenge suggests that local football clubs be allowed to have spectators and be treated like schools.
“Our supporters do not even reach 50, so it would be best if they allow us to continue playing while we ensure that everyone who comes to watch the game is wearing a mask and that we hand-sanitize them.
“We cannot continue with the league because there will be spectators and that will be in contravention of the regulations, even though we know that our supporters are less than 50. We would like SAFA Zululand to also offer us support with hand sanitizers for our supporters.
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“We will not ask for masks, because everyone is expected to own a mask, as that is the law,” added Shenge.
The SAB is the fourth league in South African football after the Motsepe, GladAfrica and Absa leagues.
Bhekuzulu United is currently in second place on goal-difference, with Louwsburg Aces on top of the log.
The league came to a halt after the implementation of lockdown in March, and is yet to resume at a later stage.
The regulations state that only journalists, radio, television crews, security personnel, emergency medical services, and the necessary employees employed by the owners of the venue are allowed at sports matches / sporting activities, including professional and non-professional matches authorised by recognised sporting bodies.
And of course, only the required number of players, match officials, support staff and medical crew required for the sports match are allowed at the venue of the sports match. No spectators are allowed at the venue of sports matches and no international sporting events are allowed.
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