‘Muti-ball’ mars football's decisive weekend
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday June 17, 2025 14:11
The weekend was meant to crown national cup champions and anoint new Premier League arrivals, but football’s dirtiest mystery, muti, took center stage, tainting two high-stakes matches.
The most glaring scene unfolded under the floodlights of the National Stadium during the Orange FA Cup final between Security Systems and Jwaneng Galaxy on Friday eveving. With tension already suffocating the atmosphere, chaos erupted just before the start of extra time. Members of Galaxy’s bench were allegedly seen pouring a suspicious liquid into the south goalpost, the end where Systems were defending.
That sparked a near brawl, with both benches storming the goal area in protest while pushing and shoving. The drama forced a stoppage as match officials scrambled to restore order. Referee Joyce Tshepe, dished out four red cards — two for each technical team and watched as squabbling spilled from the bench to the tunnel. In a post match interview, Security Systems coach, David ‘Lefty’ Bothasitse, fingerpointed his opponents for the debacle. 'It was a game that was under our control up until controversy started creeping in and the opponents started going to our goalposts and doing some funny things, changing the complex of the game,” said Bothasitse.
Meanwhile, just a few hours later and kilometers away at the Galaxy Stadium, muti tension made a second appearance and this time in the Premier League promotional playoffs between Young Stars and Calendar Stars. Only two minutes into the second half, players from both teams clashed near the north goalpost after accusations that planted objects had been discovered beneath the turf. What would been a tense tactical contest turned into shouting matches and shoving duels, forcing the referee to book three players involved in the melee.
Even before kick-off, drama was brewing. A Calendar Stars official, listed as a medic, was denied dressing room entry by Young Stars, who claimed the move was a ploy to sneak in rituals. The match was delayed by seven minutes as the standoff played out. Young Stars head coach, called for focus on football not folklore. 'We must teach and train our players to play football. We must not encourage our players to take part in such things, we must not encourage them that this extra things can not help them, no. We must encourage our players to know that training is the only remedy to making them better players,” said Moseki.