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'A disaster waiting to happen' South Africa's Radebe expresses sorry at tragedy
LONDON, England (CNN) -- South Africa's national team captain Lucas Radebe told CNN of his sorrow after 43 people were crushed to death at a football match at Johannesburg's Ellis Park stadium. "It's really sad, especially at a game of football where people come to enjoy themselves and watch their role models," said the 32-year-old defender, who plays for Leeds United in the English Premier League. "Then a tragedy like this happens. It makes people look at the game with a different perspective when the safety of supporters is at risk." The clash between the Kaizer Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates is the biggest match of the South African domestic season and Radebe, a former Chiefs star who played in a 1991 clash against the Pirates when 25 people were crushed to death, believes the scale of the occasion contributed directly to the tragedy. "It's just this game between two giants. A big crowd is always expected and when you get that overcapacity when they go overboard selling tickets -- and there were loads of people inside and outside the stadium - that was a disaster waiting to happen." However, Radebe is confident that safety at South African matches will improve as a result of the lessons learnt by soccer and security authorities at Ellis Park. "If they make safety their first priority they'll get the game back on track," he says. "After this they'll have to do something -- they just have to. A lot of people have lost their lives and families have lost their kids. "It'll never be the same again at the venue. It's a great venue and people love watching football but this has raised a lot of questions. "If you want to allow your kid to go to the game you'll have loads of questions to ask yourself. "But they'll improve things. It'll get back to being an enjoyable game again, and people can go out to the stadiums without fear of any more disasters."
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