Soccer coach kidnapped in South Africa - apparently by angry fans
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Your support makes all the difference.A soccer coach from Brazil said he was ready to "throw in the towel" and leave South African sports after being kidnapped by two men and prevented from coaching his team during a game.
A soccer coach from Brazil said he was ready to "throw in the towel" and leave South African sports after being kidnapped by two men and prevented from coaching his team during a game.
"It was a scary situation," said Swallows coach Walter da Silva after his three-hour ordeal. "They pushed me to the back seat of the car and said they were going to shoot me if I didn't keep quiet."
South African soccer has been spared the hooliganism that plagues European venues, but this incident shows that crime is increasingly hitting sports in this country. Among recent cases: gunmen fired into the home of a soccer official, and a referee killed a player during an unregulated soccer match.
Da Silva said that during the Wednesday afternoon kidnapping, the assailants forced him to phone two of his technical assistants as the Swallows began playing the Bush Bucks in a Castle Premier League clash, and tell them to leave the game.
They did. The players decided to stick with the game, falling behind 1-0 but then scoring to tie after da Silva phoned again to say he had been released in a shopping center parking lot.
Police said they have opened an abduction and attempted hijacking investigation but have made no arrests yet.
Da Silva said he thinks the kidnappers, who stole 1,500 rands (dlrs 245) from him, are fans dissatisfied with his coaching. Even though his Johannesburg-based team has lost only two of 10 games since da Silva became coach four months ago, he said he has received death threats.
After one loss, police had to protect him from angry fans who were storming the field.
"When I lose, they're coming like a mob and want to kill me," said da Silva, a native of Rio de Janeiro.
Da Silva, who before coming to the Swallows coached the Khorfakkan team in the United Arab Emirates, was meeting with team executives Thursday to discuss his security.
"I really feel uneasy," he said in a phone interview. "My life is at stake here. I feel like throwing in the towel."
Gambling has been behind some soccer violence in South Africa, but da Silva said he doubted that was the motive in his case.
Last February, a soccer referee shot and killed a player during a match after the player, angry over a disputed goal, lunged at him with a knife. Betting on the game had been heavy and that may have led to the heated emotions. Unlike the Swallows-Bush Bucks match, that game was not sanctioned by the South African Football Association.
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