Not Enough Is Being Said About Another Security Failure At Sundowns-esperance

With the positive coverage of a Mamelodi Sundowns supporter heroically saving an Esperance de Tunis fan from serious injury, and blame being put on the Tunisians role in starting violence at Loftus Versfeld, the point of the lack of security has been missed.

The videos shared on social media reveal much about the events that took place in the upper east stand of Loftus minutes following the final whistle after Sundowns beat Esperance 1-0 in the first leg of their Caf Champions League quarterfinal.

They appear to show and the Confederation of African Footballs Caf investigation may well back up this assertion, also made by Downs that Esperance fans, unhappy with the result and perhaps believing Peter Shaluliles 54th-minute winner had a hint of offside to it, started the unruliness. Some videos show the Tunisians breaking down temporary fencing barriers erected to keep them separate from Sundowns fans and hurling missiles, including flares.

The videos also seem to show the security response was sorely lacking.

They show that as the Esperance supporters begin some unruliness, there are a handful of security officials in the north stand nearby. They are not enough for the part of the stadium most likely to be a flashpoint of trouble on the afternoon. One can speculate the few who are there are not sufficiently trained to know how to deal with the situation. They understandably hang back. Where are the immediate reinforcements in numbers of security officials as seen in stadiums around the world where security is taken seriously to snuff out the incident that has still not become violent before it does?