Cape Town - Polokwane Municipality, the owner of the Peter Mokaba Stadium, has apologised to the football community, sponsors and the Premier Soccer League for the failure of the floodlights which led to the abandonment of the Absa Premiership match between SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates on Tuesday evening.
"We regret and apologise unreservedly for the failure to have required lux levels due to problems with floodlights on the western side of the stadium. Even after employing the best procedures to remedy the situation we could not fix the problem within the required time," said Ndavhe Ramakuela, Director for Community Development as well as Acting Municipal Manager.
Ramakuela further said: "Normal systems testing were done on Friday, August 7, 2015 as well as on Monday, August 10, 2015. Floodlights were switched on two hours before kick-off and ran well until a portion went off in the 62nd minute. Electricians on site tried all procedures to get the floodlights back on without success.
"The municipality has called on an advanced team of specialists to repair the said area and to put measures in place to avoid a recurrence of such a problem.
"We have hosted more than 16 home games for SuperSport United since 2011 without experiencing major problems, this being the second in seven months wherein we have electrical problems, said Ramakuela.
"We shall meet with SuperSport United to express our regret and find a lasting solution to keep our relationship on track."
Ramakuela concluded: "We are pained that spectators who had come to support the game did not have the full 90 minutes experience due to this problem. Since the game is to resume on August 12, 2015 at 12:00, we shall put our systems in place to ensure that the 28 minutes are played within an acceptable environment. "
All those who have ticket stubs from the game may use them to access the stadium from 10:00 on Wednesday before the 12:00 kick-off. Those who may have lost or destroyed them should first go to the ticket office next to the stadium where they would be issued with new tickets before accessing the stadium.