CAFCL: Orlando Pirates coach Riveiro decries violent clashes from MC Alger match

Photo Credit - Mouloudia Club d'Alger.

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has voiced out his frustrations over the violence that erupted at Orlando Stadium after their top liner CAF Champions League encounter against Algeria outfit, MC Alger on Wednesday night.

Football fans went berserk in a disturbance that was characterized by violent flying kicks, punches, and frantic scrambles with players from both clubs running for cover.

Pirates had secured a 1-0 victory in their first leg clash in Alger and following a goalless draw in the second-leg in Soweto, it completed a 1-0 aggregate score line for the Buccaneers but the celebratory atmosphere was soiled by the riot. MC Alger’s players and staff reacted angrily to the defeat, initially directing their frustration at the referee, Ibrahim Traore.

Physical confrontations erupted among officials of both clubs after Pirates’ security attempted to protect the officials but MC Alger’s team continued their aggression. The South African Police Service’s [SAPS] attempts to control the brawl proved ineffective, prompting Pirates’ fans to enter the pitch, further intensifying the chaos.

The disturbing situation left Riveiro describing the incidents as ‘unacceptable.’

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Riveiro as quoted by FARPost. “Probably we are going to the space to know who started the fight. I think it doesn’t matter for me, for us, or for my group; football is something special. It is something that cannot get dirty with this type of behaviour, which is something unacceptable.

“Whatever happened, probably everybody was making mistakes outside, but those behaviours must be as far as possible from these types of spectacles, far from sport because we don’t really need it. We have to learn how to win, and we have to learn how to lose, we have to accept the result, whatever is coming.

“And again, I don’t really know what happened because I was just sitting on the bench when everything started. I was trying to understand the dimension of what we had just achieved a few seconds before, and all of a sudden, everything was a mess in front of me,” he added.

“We will see some sad pictures, and I hope that the people who find themselves in those pictures feel embarrassed enough not to repeat it again, and we can just have a normal football game every time we come to a football game.

“Our fans are a good example all around the world of what a football game means, the way to come to the stadium, enjoying it with a good spirit, and being in a good mood, and that’s it. Like I said, I don’t want to say much because I don’t have all the information right now, but hopefully it is the last time that we see this type of scene in Orlando.”

This incident follows a worrying trend of fan violence by North African teams in recent CAF matches, including confrontations between Esperance and Mamelodi Sundowns fans in Pretoria and Zamalek SC and Stellenbosch FC supporters in Cape Town.