Fans fuming that Sundowns match will go ahead just days after Madisha's death
Local football fans have slammed the Premier Soccer League (PSL) for going ahead with a game between Mamelodi Sundowns and TS Galaxy as the nation mourns the death of Sundowns defender Motjeka Madisha.
The 25-year-old died in a car crash in the early hours of Sunday morning after the vehicle he and another person were travelling in crashed into a steel pole near Kempton Park.
City of Ekurhuleni disaster and emergency management services spokesperson William Ntladi said when his team arrived on the scene the vehicle was still burning.
“We managed to contain the blaze and extinguished it. And then, following information that there was still somebody trapped inside [the vehicle]‚ we did search and rescue [but] could not distinguish whether it was a male or female inside‚ given the state of the body inside the vehicle.
“There was another person lying outside next to the vehicle‚ [who] also sustained critical burn wounds on the upper body. These two occupants [found] at the scene were declared dead by paramedics.”
Madisha's death sent shock waves across the country and led to an outpouring of emotional tributes.
Many felt Sundown's match, scheduled to kick off just two days after the accident, should have been postponed to allow his family, the club and its supporters to grieve Madisha's death.
However, reports claim the PSL rejected a request from Sundowns to postpone the fixture and TS Galaxy’s media manager Minenhle Mkhize confirmed to TimesLIVE on Monday that the game would go ahead.
Fans were fuming at the decision and made their feelings known on social media, making the hashtag #PostponeSundownsMatch the top trend on Twitter.
Many brought slips, comparing it to the postponement of fixtures after Senzo Meyiwa's death in 2014 and accusing the football body's bosses of bias.
.@OfficialPSL is biased shem🙌 the players won't be in a good state of mind to play come on just #PostponeSundownsMatch
— H A R O L D (@_IamHarold) December 15, 2020
Dear @OfficialPSL
— Scelo Critical👆🏋♛🔁 (@idunge87) December 15, 2020
You suck with flying colours.
Kind regards #PostponeSundownsMatch #RIPMotjekaMadisha
@OfficialPSL whats difference from these are they more important than Madisha or myb its because he is playing for Sundowns #PostponeSundownsMatch pic.twitter.com/D920COTPnJ
— Cboeh Mthembu_09 (@NKamnisi) December 14, 2020
This one's double standards are very clear, he can't even hide anything. If it's Chiefs and Pirates, everything stops, if it's Sundowns, we always have to try #AgainsAllOdds #PostponeSundownsMatch #PostponeSundownsMatch #PostponeSundownsMatch #PostponeSundownsMatch pic.twitter.com/hkd0ekWPy3
— Sello Mofokeng (@SelloMofokengSA) December 14, 2020
Hey, @OfficialPSL
— Pro Philani (@prophilani) December 14, 2020
Respect Madisha, his club and his family. #PostponeSundownsMatch pic.twitter.com/DcGMqd4CJy
We used to complain as South Africans that Issa Hayatou was running CAF like his spaza shop and had been it's head for decades and yet we are mum when colonel and his cronies have been doing same for years now, hence so much bias treatment against #Downs #PostponeSundownsMatch pic.twitter.com/VECMd2UEj0
— Sello Mofokeng (@SelloMofokengSA) December 14, 2020
Can't they be respected and honoured the same way Senzo was...
— Nkosinati Magwa (@NkosinatiMagwa) December 15, 2020
Is that too much to ask @OfficialPSL and @Masandawana#PostponeSundownsMatch pic.twitter.com/tuRQIA7aYw
@OfficialPSL can you for once in your lifetime take decisions as an African who sympathise with people who are in pain.
— SekhukhuneSekhukhune (@Sekhukhune_kk) December 15, 2020
Please #PostponeSundownsMatch and practice Ubuntu pic.twitter.com/Kx3YhEjrbl
#PostponeSundownsMatch show some respect @OfficialPSL, we are talking about a full @BafanaBafana international player here. @SAFA_net please intervene this is not right at all, we are humans before anything else.
— 🙌 Mapholoba 🙌 (@AyandaFab) December 15, 2020