KING Zwelithini Stadium runs the risk of being temporarily stopped from hosting PSL matches.
But the decision to provisionally take the Umlazi stadium out of their stadium list relies heavily on PSL chief operations officer (COO) Ronnie Schloss and Shaheen Salot, who was match commissioner during Sunday’s Absa Premiership match between AmaZulu and Maritzburg United.
Schloss told SunSport yesterday that he is still waiting for Salot’s report about the stadium’s unplayable pitch before determining whether to fly down to Durban for a proper pitch inspection.
This follows complains raised by two coaches – Eric Tinkler of Maritzburg United and Usuthu’s Jozef Vukusic – after Sunday’s goalless draw at the same 10 000-seater venue in Umlazi D section.
Schloss said he didn’t watch the KwaZulu-Natal derby on Sunday, but promised that he will look into Salot’s pitch report before acting.
“If his report is negative then I’ll go and inspect the venue myself,” said Schloss.
The pitch of the multi-purpose stadium, which was used as a training field for teams participating in the 2010 Fifa World Cup, was made worse after the heavy storms in Durban.
The venue also hosted the annual Umlazi Jazz Music Festival on 2 November where bands and hundreds of enthusiastic fans danced the night away at the pitch, to further cause the damage.
In what could be seen as a funny side to the sad story, home team coach, Vukusic, was equally unhappy to play at the Umlazi stadium, visibly unimpressed with the state of the pitch.
“The state of the pitch was not ideal,” he said.
Tinkler did not mince his words: “I will not take anything positive from this game as the pitch was unplayable, and it disrupted everything.
“People who watched this game from television must have changed channels.”
Fortunately for Usuthu they will not play in Umlazi again this year, which gives the stadium management time to fix the mess.
Their next two games are away to Black Leopards in Venda (7 December) and Bloemfontein Celtic in the Free State on 22 December.
They are expected back at the venue on 4 January when they host Mamelodi Sundowns. Whether the match would still go to the Mlazi venue depends on Schloss, with more festivals set for the venue during the festive period.
There is the Umlazi Picnic, KZN’s largest iconic outdoor social event, which is annually hosted in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality.
KZN stadium pitches have come under scrutiny lately.
Just before the last international break, Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane was unhappy with the drainage system at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium, following his side’s 3-2 loss to Golden Arrows last month.The match was played under torrential rain, which endangered players with career threatening injuries.
On 1 December last year Kaizer Chiefs suffered a major blow when their No 1 goalie, Itumeleng Khune, got an ankle injury that ruled him out for the season at KwaMashu’s Princess Magogo Stadium.This was as a result of the stadium’s terrible pitch when they lost 2-1 to Arrows, with the pitch cluttered with plenty of brown spots.
That match was played a week after the venue hosted a music concert, which presumably caused major damages on the pitch. The PSL was then forced to suspend the games at the venue until the pitch was fixed. That is when Arrows moved to the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium in Clermont.
