Konco call for PSL matches to play behind closed doors

Konco says fining a club for its misbehaving fans doesn’t do enough to keep the fans in check. His suggestion comes after fans invaded the pitch at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium at a game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, while there were acts of violence at the Dr Molemela Stadium when Bloemfontein Celtic clashed with Platinum Stars.

“Fining the clubs money whenever there are incidents of violence at stadiums has proved that it does not work, and we urge the PSL to look at other ways to deal with this issue‚” Konco said.

“We are advocating that clubs‚ whose fans are perpetrators of such incidents‚ must be made to play a certain number of matches behind closed doors.

“In this way‚ the punishment is felt by the supporters because at the moment they can do whatever they want to do knowing that the PSL is going to fine the club, and the club will pay the fine”.

Konco said the club plans to meet with fans soon to discuss their behaviour after the game against Dikwena.

“In this country‚ it is largely Celtic‚ Pirates‚ Sundowns and Chiefs who are fined for crowd violence.

“It does not help because the same supporters who are responsible for these things come back later to do the same thing, and the same team gets fined again.

“We need to do something different because clearly what is happening at the moment is not working.

“As Celtic‚ we are going to engage our supporters in a meeting with leaders of branches so that we get to the bottom of this problem and ask them to make recommendations.

“They are the ones who know these people, and they must help us to identify them so that we can take the appropriate action.”