In the aftermath of the heated Nedbank Cup semifinal at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Chippa United co-coach Kwanele Kopo accused the Orlando Stadium technical team of uttering abusive and foul language during their verbal clash on the touchline.
The Buccaneers marched on to the final of Ke Yona after earning a tough 3-1 win over the Chilli Boys in an ill-tempered match.
Former Pirates striker Bienvenu Eva Nga was sent off in the dying minutes for dissent. Kopo alleges that Riveiro tormented the striker before he received his marching orders.
“I have a lot of respect for Orlando Pirates, but the language used towards us by the coach today was shocking, absolutely shocking.
“Not needed in football. (He) can’t even look me in the eye after the game, or shake a hand. He was inciting Eva (Nga) the whole game, that’s why Eva got sent off.
“I know, Pirates wanted to defend the trophy and I respect the club, I respect the officials of the club. But I think people can present themselves better,” he told SuperSport TV.
Kopo insisted that only Mandla Ncikazi, serving as an assistant, apologized for Bucs’ alleged improper behavior.
“Coach Mandla, I want to compliment him. That when everybody else was abusing us, he was the one combatant that came to apologize to us. Big up to coach Mandla for that,” Kopo added.
Kopo also blasted the match officials for failing to control the Buccaneers bench.
“But it’s bad, even the fourth official could hear a coach use abusive language against us and they just keep quiet, but it’s okay we move on.
“We are all coaches, we know when people are under pressure. But we don’t want to say certain things because we want to be looked bad at. It’s not nice.
“Some of us grew up in a difficult time in South Africa, and when you consistently use a second language towards us, it riles us up. That’s the disappointing part for me.
“And that’s what makes us angry, even for the referees that when people of a certain color or language are abusive, it seems like it’s acceptable in South Africa and I think we need to overcome that.
“But big ups to Chippa, big ups to the chairman for his support. He told us to play an open game and hopefully, the crowd enjoyed the game but I think a good spectacle for PE,” Kopo added.
