Sundowns co-coach Mokwena says 'government intervention' is needed for SA fans stadium return

It has gone beyond the two-year mark since South African fans have watched their beloved clubs play football from the stands in stadiums across the country.

Last month, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) staged a picket with thousands of sports fanatics to urge the South African government to greenlight fans return to stadiums.

During the mass gathering, EFF head honcho Julius Malema called on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa for the slow progress he has made in allowing fans to watch live football.

A month has gone by and the issue remains the same, with Mamelodi Sundowns co-coach Rulani Mokwena adding his voice to the cause.

Sundowns will play a CAF Champions League Group B clash against Al-Merrik, with their opponents covering the expenses of 5000 fans to watch the match at the Al Salam Stadium in Egypt, Cairo on Saturday.

Speaking to the media ahead of the fixture, Mokwena believes that the South African government remains the only entity that can give the go-ahead for fans to return to stadiums.

"The challenge you have is that logistically you are getting into a space that needs some form of government intervention regarding Covid regulations. It becomes very, very difficult to enter that space," said Mokwena.

"However, I think the Sundowns management and the people around, with regards to dealing directly with CAF (Confederation of African Football), through SAFA (South African Football Association), are the people that put those sort of recommendations and do whatever is best for football in our country.

"Of course, as I said, we have a different environment; therefore, we got different regulations, and we have a different way of dealing with the