Home Sport No Surprise as Cape Town City vow lodge racism report after Baroka...

No Surprise as Cape Town City vow lodge racism report after Baroka draw

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Cape Town City will lodge a report to the Premier Soccer League detailing an alleged racist incident in their match against Baroka FC.

City and Baroka played to a 1-1 draw in Limpopo, but the match ended in controversy with tempers flaring on the respective benches after the visitors’ goalscorer Surprise Ralani was tackled from behind by Basil Mphahlele. Picture: Samuel Shivambu, BackpagePix

CAPE TOWN – Cape Town City will lodge a report to the Premier Soccer League detailing an alleged racist incident in their match against Baroka FC at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday.

City and Baroka played to a 1-1 draw in Limpopo, but the match ended in controversy with tempers flaring on the respective benches after the visitors’ goalscorer Surprise Ralani was tackled from behind by Basil Mphahlele.

City were incensed by the tackle, and even more so, when referee Xola Sitela only handed out a caution to Mphahlele and not a straight red card.

Independent Media understands that the reaction from the City bench was not only due to the vociferous nature of the tackle, but also due to an alleged racist remark made from the Baroka bench.

It is believed the comment made was “you coloureds think this is Cape Town. This is not Cape Town” before following it up with “you coloureds think you can do something here“.

Although the remark was not targeted directly at Ralani in particular, the Kimberly-born midfielder was visibly shaken by the events that unfolded.

Baroka FC have reportedly issued an apology to Cape Town City after the match for the alleged incident and will furthermore undertake an internal investigation before action will be taken against the perpetrator.

Meanwhile, City coach Jan Olde Riekerink praised his team for maintaining their compusure during the intensely physical clash.

“I think my team were very competitive because against a team like Baroka, you really need to stand up as a team because you have to defend against a wave of physical Baroka players,” the Dutchman said.

“We were unlucky to get a 1-1 because we were the better team and deserved the win because we outplayed them. They only thing we can do is blame ourselves that we didn’t make use of the opportunities at the end of the game.

“We scored a beautiful goal with Surprise. After that we were very stable because we knew they would play with the long balls. They didn’t get to shoot one time at our goal the whole game, but we were unlucky to score an own goal.”

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