Head coach Cavin Johnson has strangely cited the upcoming national elections as partly to blame for Kaizer Chiefs supporters' embarrassingly low turnout to honour club legend Itumeleng Khune on Saturday.
The Amakhosi fans who decided against attending the game at FNB Stadium on Saturday, may have spared themselves from witnessing a lacklustre affair as their side battled to a goalless draw against DStv Premiership newbies Polokwane City.
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The encounter was an underwhelming showing to celebrate a man whose time at Chiefs had, for the most part, been symbolised by breathtaking reflexes that so often brought supporters to the edge of their seats, and in his prime, a time underlined by both team and individual accolades.
But the anti-climatic display was perhaps fitting for a Chiefs side boasting undeniable quality in players, yet looks set to end what will go down as one of their worst seasons in the PSL era.
End of an era #Khune pic.twitter.com/HJTq3fVLWY
— Andile Ncube (@AndileNcube) May 18, 2024
Speaking at the post-match press conference after the match, Johnson explained why he believes the national elections could be to blame for the poor turnout.
"Regarding the supporters, I think when you look back and you look at what we've been doing, I think we are still one of the teams in the PSL with the most supporters in any one game. So yes, we expected to have more [but] today we didn't," Johnson said.
"But you look back and you look at what's happening around the country, there's a lot of elections.
"People are saying, 'Hey let me go (vote) so I can get Sassa (government grant) more or let me go here to see what they are doing; Are they going to burn or fix our roads?' So we are faced with a lot of those, competitions if I may say, in our sporting.
"If we never had that, I'm sure if they (supporters) had found that Itu (Khune) was being honoured, our supporters would have been here much more.
"But now they've got to weigh their options. (They say) Are they going to close the pothole or must I go watch Kaizer Chiefs on a Saturday?, 'I want to close the pothole because that's why we're having problems in our communities'.
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"That for me is a lot. They've got to think about all those things. Our supporters are also very important to us but, like we say, today they never came out in their numbers.
"But I know for a fact, wherever we go, we always have the most supporters.
"It's been three games now that we've not won. People want us to win games and score goals and that's not happening. Hopefully, in Cape Town we will have a good following and we will score goals.
Johnson, in his defence, may have been alluding to a political rally across town where a political party that will be contesting the 2024 General Elections held its Manifesto launch also on Saturday afternoon at a packed Orlando Stadium, just several kilometres away from FNB Stadium.
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