WANDERERS’ SHAMEFUL ‘MINUTE OF SILENCE’

MBABANE – Rivalry is a characteristic of competition and is acceptable but lack of respect can only spell doom and gloom.

A moment of silence in honour of a dearly departed person, the late PLS and Mbabane Swallows’ Chairman Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze in this particular case, should be nothing more or less than that. In Europe, the stadiums go completely silent with over 50 000 fans inside because they respect others and are proud of their heroes.

However, at Somhlolo National Stadium this past Sunday, the minute’s silence in honour of Gamedze was unrecognised or rather disrespected and disregarded by a majority of Manzini Wanderers’ supporters.
This was before the start of the last match between Swallows and Royal Leopard.

There was some shouting of unprintable expletives and vuvuzela-blowing so loud one could have sworn something other than the moment of silence was happening inside the stadium. The incident lasted throughout the minute. However, some acknowledged the moment of silence and even gave a round of applause along with the Swallows family and every other person in the stadium being Mbabane Highlanders, Royal Leopard and Vovovo to name some.

As this did not go unnoticed by the football officials at the stadium including high profile people at the Royal Box, Wanderers’ General Manager Pat Mahlalela has acknowledged the incident that went on to trigger a debate on the club’s Facebook page among supporters, some condemning and others justifying it as revenge for Swallows’ earlier romance with their hoodoo rivals Vovovo who beat the hub side 1-0 earlier on the day.
“May I, on behalf of Manzini Wanderers FC Board of Directors and Management, pass our deepest regrets for the unbecoming and shameful behaviour exhibited by some of our supporters who were seated at the area allocated for our team’s supporters during the Y’ello Sunday matches at Somhlolo National Stadium on Sunday, January 28.

“We strongly condemn the disturbance that happened when the ‘minute of silence’ for the late PLS chairman was being observed,” he wrote in a press release.
He said they noted that in their game against Vovovo and then the one between Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Sundowns, there were no incidents.
“We were therefore taken aback by the behaviour of the supporters when it was time to observe same before the Swallows and Leopard clash. We view the incident seriously and are ashamed,” he said.

Mahlalela further express their unreserved apologies to the entire nation, National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS), PLS, Swallows, sponsors and their main partner Swazi Mobile for the appalling scenes.
“We ask for forgiveness, tolerance and understanding as we work to address the unbecoming behaviour. At Wanderers, we understand that the key goal of organised football as espoused by FIFA and guarded by the NFAS and PLS, is to “Develop the game, touch the world, build a better future”, he appealed.

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