ORLANDO Pirates appear to be off the hook following violence on Saturday night by their fans during an MTN8 semifinal.

Pirates fans threw firecrackers onto the pitch at Orlando Stadium and fought with fans from SuperSport United.

The Pirates fans were angered by the sending off of Benni McCarthy, and a 3-0 win by United.

The PSL, however, refused to apportion blame to a specific group of fans, saying only that a “faction” was responsible.

Attempts to clarify the PSL’s stance were unsuccessful.

The PSL official in charge of the disciplinary committee, Ntietso Mofokeng, was not available for comment yesterday. PSL acting CEO Cambridge Mokanyane said the league would “not tolerate such behaviour”.

On three occasions firecrackers were thrown at United goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez, once resulting in a minute-long stoppage when referee Robert Smith took the players to the centre circle.

Plastic bottles were thrown onto the pitch. Mokanyane said: “What we saw. cannot be condoned.

“It is not good for us or for the image of football.”

But on Pirates’ website yesterday, fans expressed their disgust. “Referee or not, we as fans were pathetic and barbaric destroying our own stadia,” said a Pirates supporter named Okonkwo. Assassin of Orlando said: “This time we are going to pay! How many suspended sentences do we have pending?”

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