Organisers of Chiefs vs Sundowns clash plead with fans to arrive early at FNB Stadium

Organisers of the sold out Carling Knockout quarterfinal between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns at the FNB Stadium are going to implement strict security and traffic control measures to ensure smooth operations on Saturday. 

About 90,000 football supporters and those who will be collecting their Soweto Marathon packs for the race the next morning are expected to converge at Nasrec. 

The Johannesburg metropolitan police department , Premier Soccer League (PSL) and Stadium Management SA said they are confident about their plans to ensure a smooth event. 

“We have partnered with the PSL and Stadium Management SA to make sure the event is executed without any hiccups,” said Angie Mokasi, director in the office of the chief of police at JMPD. 

Mokasi said there will be road closures in and around the stadium and they will deploy 150 officials to help with crowd and traffic control, which is always a problem.

“We want to emphasise road closures will be in place on Saturday from 1pm for the purposes of the game. Nasrec Road will be a three-way going into the stadium and after the game it will be the same going out of the stadium.  

“The Golden Highway is going to be converted into a one-way to accommodate people who will be going to Nasrec to collect race packs for the Soweto Marathon. 

“The Soweto highway will be closed between the N1 bridge towards Booysens Reserve and we are encouraging people to arrive early. The JMPD will deploy 150 officers at strategic points. 

“We have also extended our deployment as far as Rifle Range and Columbine next to South Gate, and we will have drone support so we get real time data.” 

Stadium Management SA CEO Bertie Grobbelaar pleaded with supporters to arrive early to make things easier. 

“With regards to venue preparations, we have had extensive meetings since the venue was announced and the City of Johannesburg is on board. There is a directive from the mayor’s office to sort out the issue of traffic. 

“The commitment made from the committee involved in preparing for the match is that we need to take accountability for the execution of the plan presented and signed off by the city joint operations committee. 

“I am sending a plea to spectators that we need assistance from them to come early. If you leave home an hour before kickoff, it is going to be a problem.  

“ An additional measure is turning the area opposite the Soweto highway into parking that can accommodate 5,000 vehicles and we have increased the number of entrances to the precinct.”