Those nasty scenes happened for back-to-back Champions League quarter-final games in SA as the Mamelodi Sundowns’ game against Esperance experienced them as well.

But unlike in Orlando, where the two teams were involved in a physical altercation, the ugly scenes in Pretoria were between the fans of the two teams.

CAF safety and security division held a meeting earlier this week to deliberate on the matter as it brought the governing body into disrepute.

As such, Dr Christian Emeruwa, the CAF safety and security head, opened up on what the hosting clubs are expected to do to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Emeruwa said: “For CAF interclub football to live up to the expected standards, each club must work hard to create an environment whereby supporters feel safe at the stadium.

“All club managers and security stakeholders are expected to work alongside CAF security and their respective national security officers to ensure the stadium is safe and welcoming.”

Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA), the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Pirates did their part to ensure that all safety protocols were in place.

But MC Alger’s officials did their best to contravene all those regulations as they also fought with the security staff, including the SAPS, that were put in place.

The North Africans’ fight at Orlando did not only end on the pitch, some of their officials took it down the tunnel with the media personnel.

The barbaric behaviour shocked everyone, especially given the fact that Alger were on foreign territory, and were expected to act as distinguished guests.

Pirates’ coach Jose Riveiro refused to put his head on the block and point fingers.

Instead, he said such behaviour doesn’t have a place in football.

“I don’t really know what happened,” Riveiro said. “We’ll suddenly now have to go into a space to know who started the fight. I think it doesn’t matter.

“I think for me, us, and my group, football is something that cannot get dirty with these types of behaviours. It’s something that’s unacceptable.

“Probably, someone was making mistakes from outside, but those behaviours must be far from sport because we don’t really need it.

“We have to learn how to win and lose, and accept whatever result that’s coming. Again, I don’t really know. I was still sitting on the bench when that happened.

“I was trying to understand the dimension of what we achieved, and a second later, everything was a mess in front of me.”

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