Mamelodi Sundowns have called on Tunisian club Espérance to “denounce” the behavior of its supporters after the ugly scenes at Loftus Stadium.
Sundowns beat Espérance 1-0 at the Pretoria venue on Tuesday in a CAF Champions League quarter-finals first leg encounter, but their victory was marred by clashes between the supporters from both ends.
However, it’s evident in video footage that the Espérance section—believed to be around 600 traveling supporters—were the aggressors, throwing water bottles and even security gates.
In a heart-stopping moment, a Sundowns supporter, later identified as Siboniso Masango, rescued an Espérance fan who was hanging on for dear life on a railing.
In the end, the Espérance supporters were escorted to the field for safety reasons.
While Espérance has released a statement calling for CAF to take action, they also claimed that three of their supporters ended up in hospital.
Meanwhile, Sundowns, who will travel to Tunisia for the return leg on 8 April, have fired back.
“Mamelodi Sundowns is deeply saddened by the unruly behaviuor that was displayed (01 April) at its CAF Champions League quarterfinal match against Espérance de Tunis at Loftus Versfeld Stadium,” reads Sundowns’s statement.
“Videos circulating on social media depict malicious damage to the stadium and the Mamelodi Sundowns supporters retreating from violent conduct that was initiated against them, including flares and pepper spray when the incident started.
“Sundowns awaits a full report from the match commissioner and is committed to cooperating with CAF to finalize its investigation ahead of the return leg.
“Espérance de Tunis is a respected sports institution in Africa, and we trust that once all the evidence is reviewed, our brothers and sisters at Espérance will also denounce this behaviour and take the necessary steps to ensure that the next encounter is one where all supporters feel safe and welcome,” states the Tshwane club.
“We are confident that the investigation will identify the circumstances that gave rise to the unruly behaviuor.
“However, in accordance with our African culture of compassion and empathy (our African culture of Ubuntu), we are required to apologize to Espérance de Tunis and its supporters, as the unruly behaviuor took place at our home stadium, despite the videos and facts indicating that the Sundowns supporters did not initiate the unruly behaviour.”
