Home side Bafana Bafana were left embarrassed after they were reportedly out-numbered by Congolese supporters against DR Congo at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday and discussions around the country are on-going on what could have caused this situation.
South Africa head coach Hugo Broos publicly stated that he was disappointed that the Democratic Republic of Congo had more fans in the stands than the home team and added that he felt like they were playing away.
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It goes without saying that Bafana are largely reliant on the big three teams in the country for support in the stands. Some fans on social media have been wondering if Broos' comments after he announced his squad, that no Kaizer Chiefs player deserved to be in there on current form, could have had an impact on spectator numbers.
The Belgian admitted himself afterwards that he would understand if Amakhosi head coach Molefi Ntseki would be upset, as he believes he was misquoted by some media outlets and indicated that he would request a meeting with the South African to clarify his statement.
Prominent Chiefs supporter Mama Fefe Sonti says what Broos said about Amakhosi players is unacceptable and that it could have contributed to some fans staying away.
"First of all, I won't say it's only Chiefs because most supporters were not happy the way he spoke because this is not only affecting Kaizer Chiefs," Sonti told the Siya Crew.
"If all the supporters are going to allow the coach to talk about our teams, we're not going to accept that as supporters that's why people decided not to go (to the stadium) but some went.
"Hugo Broos made a very strong and negative comment about Chiefs but you know what? Chiefs supporters are mature, they went there but not all of them. They went to the stadium, some of them because they love football," she said.
"But as a coach you don't make such comments, that was wrong. Other supporters are not happy. It was not necessary for him to talk about these."
Sonti went on and explained that another major issue for Bafana's low attendance is the problem they are facing with acquiring tickets for the game and suggested that SAFA are not doing enough to market and make tickets easily available.
"Another thing that is happening with the tickets, the problem with the tickets for supporters is big because you will find that there's someone who is carrying a lot of tickets inside the stadium. You cannot expect people to get tickets while you're inside the stadium already," she said.
"They need to publish that tickets will be available in these areas or garages, that's the best place to get tickets," she added.
SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao, meanwhile, says they were not surprised by Bafana supporters being out-numbered by the Congolese supporters in the stands.
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"We were not surprised by the huge attendance of Congolese fans at Orlando (Stadium). We knew there are a lot of them in the country and engaged with their embassy to help us mobilize them since it will be their only chance to see their team," Monyepao said on Radio 2000.
"I think we can improve on getting tickets out early and strategize the marketing before the game. I think we didn't work hard enough on these before the Namibia/DR Congo games. We will be appointing a Commercial/Marketing Director that will be able to help us with these aspects."
There have been suggestions that Bafana would get better support in other provinces and Monyepao also explained that they reached out to the City of Cape Town and Durban but the venues were not available.
"I can also assure you that we had approached a number of cities for this game but Cape Town told us the stadium was undergoing renovations, Durban had other commitments. The other provinces didn't come back to us even though they always say they want to host," she added.
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