Chippa United co-coach Kwanele Kopo was left furious with Jose Riveiro’s conduct on the sidelines, saying the Spaniard used “abusive language” during Orlando Pirates’ 3-1 win over the Chilli Boys.
Pirates booked back-to-back Nedbank Cup finals and their fourth cup final under Riveiro, with Kabelo Dlamini scoring a brace and Thapelo Xoki the third for the Buccaneers.
However, after the match, Kopo expressed his frustration with Riveiro, saying he riled up the Chippa bench as well as former Pirates striker Bienvenu Eva Nga, who got sent off late in the match.
“I have a lot of respect for Orlando Pirates, but the language used towards us by the coach today was shocking, absolutely shocking,” he said on SuperSport.
“Not needed in football. [He] can’t even look me in the eye after the game, or shake a hand. He was inciting Eva [Nga] the whole game, that’s why Eva got sent off.
“I know, Pirates wanted to defend the trophy and I respect the club, I respect the officials of the club. But I think people can present themselves better.”
Kopo, though, did compliment Pirates assistant Mandla Ncikazi because he apologised for the conduct of the Sea Robbers’ technical team.
“Coach Mandla, I want to compliment him. That when everybody else was abusing us, he was the one combatant that came to apologise to us. Big up to coach Mandla for that,” he added.
“But it’s bad, even the fourth official could hear a coach use abusive language against us and they just keep quiet, but it’s okay we move on.
“We are all coaches, we know when people are under pressure. But we don’t want to say certain things because we want to be looked bad at. It’s not nice.
“Some of us grew up in a difficult time in South Africa, and when you consistently use a second language towards us, it riles us up. That’s the disappointing part for me.
“And that’s what makes us angry, even for the referees that when people of a certain colour or language are abusive, it seems like it’s acceptable in South Africa and I think we need to overcome that.
“But big ups to Chippa, big ups to the chairman for his support. He told us to play an open game and hopefully the crowd enjoyed the game but I think a good spectacle for PE.”
