Stadium Management concedes more than 100,000 people entered FNB for last derby

As sold-out signs went up for the April 26 Soweto derby on Tuesday morning, authorities have promised the chaos of the last event, which saw about 120,000 supporters descend on the FNB Stadium precinct, will not be repeated this time.

Stadium Management SA (SMSA) CEO Bertie Grobbelaar has admitted for the first time that despite implementing a new system to curb ticket fraud, the February 28 Betway Premiership derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs was overcrowded, with nearly 15,000 more people making it into the stadium than the capacity that had been capped at about 89,000.

“It’s true. We had over 101,000 people inside the stadium at the last derby,” Grobbelaar admitted, adding there were as many as 30,000 others outside who did not gain entry.

“The biggest problem is ‘unticketed’ people in the vicinity of the venue trying to gain access. We had a challenge with people selling fake tickets and others colluding with security to enter, paying bribes,” Grobbelaar said.

“Others simply forced their way in. We were dealing with not only 90,000 ticket-holders, but about 120,000-130,000 people [inside and in the stadium vicinity].”

SMSA is now scrambling for a solution to avert a potential stadium disaster. Grobbelaar said stricter demarcations will be enforced for the April 26 fixture, which will kick off at 3pm.

“We will have four entry points that you can’t access without a parking ticket. Road closures will be further away from the stadium.

“We have a meeting with the SAPS and the city to discuss this and there will soon be a briefing, so this can be communicated adequately. You can’t have 30,000 people roaming the vicinity of the stadium without tickets.”

It has to be resolved, but we will have a proper briefing

—  Bertie Grobbelaar, SMSA CEO

Grobbelaar agreed any failure to enforce proper crowd control could lead to a disaster, with disturbing pictures from the last match of some fans standing the entire match because all seats had been taken, and others occupying the entry/exit pathways or sitting on top of each other.

“It has to be resolved, but we will have a proper briefing. There’s limited parking in the precinct, that’s why people parked in the streets, on the pavements. For the [April 26 match], you can’t be there without a parking ticket.”

Pirates announced on Tuesday that all 78,000 general access tickets had been sold out, with 10,000 more likely to be allocated to hospitality packages.

Last February more than 110,000 people entered the stadium for the derby, with SMSA admitting many used fake tickets, prompting it to implement a new digital ticketing system, which seemingly has still not resolved the issue.

Sowetan