It was chaos during a third-division match in South Africa when a maniac jumped in his car and drove onto the pitch in an effort to run over the referee. The fan tried to run over the referee and then drove toward one of the benches as the players scattered. Miraculously, no one was hurt during the madness.
So this irate fan reportedly tried to run over the referee in a third division league game in South Africa. We really need to calm down. pic.twitter.com/1kU9aVJBNR
— Babatunde Koiki (@BabatundeKoiki) February 25, 2020
According to South Africa’s Sunday Times, a member of the home side’s coaching staff helped rescue the match officials by letting them into his own car and driving them to a police station.
There is no report yet on whether the person who drove onto the pitch has been apprehended.
A video from another angle shows the driver eventually ending his rampage and parking the car in the center of the field.
Yesterday we were watching a great game of soccer between #ABCMotsepeLeague 's Polokwane City Rovers and Luka Ball Controllers when all of a sudden some guy wanted to run his car over the referees. @MarawaSportShow@robertmarawa @SAFA_net @FARPostZA @thomasmlambo @SPORTATSABC pic.twitter.com/1oqDuUDiwI
— IG: EdwinNSenior (@EdwinNSenior) February 24, 2020
As for the home team, it is reported that the chairman of the North West Region of South African Football Association, David Moloantao, said the home side would be charged for not providing adequate safety and security for players, supporters and match officials.
The South African Football Players Union also shared its disapproval of the event and described the chaotic moment as “barbaric.”
‘We as #SAFPU are shocked to have witnessed such barbaric behavior. There is no place for it in football. We will be meeting in earnest with @SAFA_net to resolve.’ Sec. Gen Nhlanhla Shabalala on #ABCMotsepeLeague incident over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/vSXVs5GyNB
— SAFPU (@SAFPU_Official) February 24, 2020
As for the big picture, hopefully the ass-hat behind the wheel is brought to justice and given a severe punishment to deter anyone else from pulling another stunt like this one. It is extremely fortunate that no one was hurt/killed or else this conversation would be drastically different.
