EDITORIAL | PSL’s repeated stadium issues indicate a need to revisit security and planning levels

The issue of stadium security in Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches has reared its head again, and the incident that occurred at an Orlando Pirates match at the start of this new season did not give much encouragement that the problems are being resolved speedily and decisively.

Pirates had to apologise to ticket-holders who could not enter Orlando Stadium in their first match of 2026-27, a 2-0 Betway Premiership win against Milford FC , after organisers closed the gates due to crowds pushing their way into the stadium.

The PSL and its clubs’ security arrangements for their matches have long warranted scrutiny.

In the past two seasons especially, the jewel in South African domestic football’s crown, the Pirates-Kaizer Chiefs Soweto derby, has suffered major ticketing, entrance and safety issues, with Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) admitting twice last season that crowds of more than 100,000 entered the 94,000-seat FNB Stadium for matches.

There have been other incidents when big clubs, especially crowd-pullers Chiefs, play around the country. Several matches hosted by TS Galaxy against Amakhosi at Mbombela Stadium have been forced to start late due to access issues around the venue. Those games pulled in good crowds but still well short of the stadium’s capacity, which indicates the organisation was not up to standard.

Football is losing supporters to sports where live events are not an uncomfortable experience.

A gate-breaking incident occurred at a Pirates match against Durban City at the end of last season. Loftus Versfeld has been a notoriously uncomfortable stadium for supporters to access for football matches.

The network issue has apparently been improved, but still there have been situations of too many supporters arriving, even without tickets, and attempting to push down gates.

Here, there is an issue with visible and sufficient security and police in place to move to such areas and deal with the problem.

Crowds need to be controlled approaching the stadium, not just entering it. This media house’s football writers have observed that there are no barricades and personnel placing supporters into queues for the gates at FNB, so scrums form. Quite apart from the hugely important safety aspect, that’s not acceptable for the football fan’s experience.

Surely in 2026 the age of fans having to scrum to get into football stadiums, something certainly far from unique to FNB, should be a relic of the past? The same can be said of the sub-standard traffic controls into and out of grounds that make for hours-long entrance and exits for fans in their own vehicles, taxis or buses.

Football is losing supporters to sports where live events are not an uncomfortable experience.

But far more important is the safety aspect. It is felt in recent years that there has been a regression in security standards from the PSL and its clubs. The league repeatedly points to complying with the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act (Sasrea) as evidence it does enough for security.