Chippa United coach Kwanele Kopo has accused an Orlando Pirates coach of racial abuse. The Chilli Boys coach said a coach without saying whether it was the head coach Jose Riveiro or one of his assistants. The incident happened during the Sea Robbers’ 3-1 win in the Nedbank Cup at the Nelson Mandela Bay.
Kabelo Dlamini scored a first-half brace, then Elmo Kambindu pulled one back for Chippa in the second half before Tapelo Xoki scored the visitors third.
NEDBANK CUP RESULT: CHIPPA UNITED 1-3 ORLANDO PIRATES
The win, which was a sixth straight victory for the Buccaneers, has sealed a place in the upcoming 2024 Nedbank Cup final. Orlando Pirates will play the winner between Stellenbosch FC and Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday.
RACIAL COMPLAINT
“Coach Mandla [Ncikazi, Orlalndo Pirates assistant coach] I want to compiment him,” Chippa’s coach Kopo said to SuperSport TV.
“When everybody else was abusing us, he was the one calm person who came to apologise. Big up to coach Mandla for that. Even though the fourth official could hear a coach [from Orlando Pirates] using abusive language against us, they just kept quiet.
“But it’s ok, we move on, we are all coaches. We know when people are under pressure. But we don’t want to say certain things…it’s not nice. Some of us grew up in a difficult time in South Africa, and when you consistently use a certain language towards us, it drives us up. So that’s the disappointing part for me. That’s what makes us angry. Even for the referees, when people of a certain colour or language use abusive language, it seems like it is acceptable in South Africa but I think we need to overcome that,” Kopo added with his complaint towards the unnamed Orlando Pirates coach.
Note: Riveiro’s Spanish assistant Sergio Almenara is one of the possible persons of a ‘certain colour or language’ that Kopo is referring to, as is the fitness trainer Helmi Gueldich from Tunisia.