The Premier Soccer League has apologised to Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos after the coach revealed on Monday that he was denied entry to the Orlando Stadium to watch Orlando Prates vs Mamelodi Sundowns.
The national team coach was clearly irritated during his media conference, saying he was turned away from the stadium by security guards this past Saturday.
"I'm really upset, we would have liked to see the game between Pirates and Sundowns but they did not allow us to go in the stadium," Broos said on SABC Sport on Monday afternoon.
"We couldn’t enter at three o'clock, we were not allowed to enter the stadium and we had an accreditation of the league. They said, ‘No, this is not enough. When I let you in, I lose my job’.
"I don't understand that. We are coaches of the national team, and there is a team [Pirates] who don’t allow us into the stadium to see a game of their team.
"The most surprising is that the chairman of the team [Irvin Khoza] is the vice-president of Safa. I didn't believe it, so we have to go back.
"My assistant was there, so I phoned him and said, ‘Come with us and come and see the game, SuperSport’. I couldn't believe it. It is unacceptable, really unacceptable."
The league has since responded to the Belgian coach, stating the incident was merely due to miscommunication and that it would not happen again.
Statement:
The Premier Soccer League today learned of an unfortunate incident in which the South African senior national team head coach was denied access to the DStv Premiership match between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, 25 September 2021.
The incident is highly regrettable, and the League has apologised unreservedly to the South African Football Association for the unfortunate occurrence.
The PSL immediately investigated the matter and established that the confusion was caused by the League’s failure to inform the host club about the head coach’s attendance as per protocol.
Over the past two months, an arrangement has been in place between the League and SAFA to allow the head coach to attend matches whenever he needs to, while continuing to ensure compliance. The arrangement has functioned well until thus far.
On this occasion, the League regrettably erred, and will ensure that this does not occur again.
