COLUMN | Time has come for Mamelodi Sundowns to build their own stadium

Ruck & Maul Column, by Ashfak Mohamed

It was a real eyesore watching Mamelodi Sundowns face Orlando Pirates a few weeks ago at Loftus Versfeld.

No, I’m not a Pirates supporter, so it’s not because of the 4-1 victory to Sundowns. although Buccaneers coach Jose Riveiro mentioned the state of the surface afterwards.

It was rather due to the poor state of the pitch at the home of Blue Bulls rugby, who often rent out their stadium to the Brazilians – no doubt also influenced by the fact that Sundowns owner Patrice Motsepe is also one of the Bulls owners.

But Loftus still resembles a cabbage patch at the moment due to the heavy rains that have lashed Gauteng in recent weeks, and it was again in a bad state for the last two Bulls matches held there, against the Sharks and Lions.

Another issue cropped up about Loftus this week, as Sundowns’ blockbuster Premiership encounter with Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday was initially scheduled for that venue.

That game was set to start at 3.30pm, but on the same day, the Bulls are taking on the Stormers in a massive United Rugby Championship clash, with kick-off at 5pm.

Now, theoretically, both matches could be staged at the same stadium on the same day, but there would need to be a change to the starting time of one of those – which isn’t always possible due to the TV schedules.

So, Sundowns will now face Chiefs at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday. But that 28 900-capacity venue is a far cry from the modern, 51 672-capacity Loftus, which would be much more appropriate for a match of that nature.

The Atteridgeville pitch is much better than the Loftus one at the moment, so that should help both Sundowns and Chiefs to play a much more attractive style of football.

But surely the time has come for a club as big as Sundowns to build and own their own stadium?

PSL operations chief Ronnie Schloss told SABC Sport on Radio 2000 last year that Sundowns spent “millions” in upgrading and fixing the Atteridgeville stadium after it was deemed unfit to host PSL games.

But not only have Masandawana won the Premiership for seven seasons in a row, they also competed in the CAF Champions League and in 2016, the Fifa Club World Cup, with significant income for those achievements.

Now that they will again be participating in the Club World Cup in June and July in the United States, which will see them already earning about R900 million as an appearance fee.

Imagine if they progress to the knockout rounds? The winners are set to get nearly R2 billion, so there are big bucks to be made just to advance to the round of 16 and quarter-finals.

But the R900 million is guaranteed to Sundowns. Add in the deep pockets of the Motsepe family and their sponsors, and you would think that Masandawana could build at least a 50 000-capacity home stadium – or try to upgrade the Lucas Moripe Stadium.

That, though, would be difficult, as Sundowns fans have already complained on social media this week about the traffic chaos around Atteridgeville whenever a big game is played at the venue, which SuperSport United also use.