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FOR a game that was being broadcast live on SuperSport, and whose cheapest ticket cost $5, the Harare Derby between Dynamos and CAPS United attracted a huge crowd.

That more than 19 000 fans paid their way into the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, with estimates showing that an equal number of supporters decided to go back home after being frustrated by the chaos at the gates, was testimony of this game’s enduring appeal.

It’s unfortunate that, once again, football was the big loser given — in these days of falling attendance figures — the game has to maximise every opportunity it gets to show those who are no longer going to the stadiums that it still offers a lot in terms of value.

Sadly, because of chaos at the gates on Sunday, a big chance to convince a big number of fans that there was still value in our domestic Premiership and convert them into possible regulars at our league matches, was lost.

We also feel for CAPS United, the domestic champions whose coffers were severely drained by the club’s participation in the CAF Champions League, who could have replenished their coffers with rich pickings that could have come with more fans paying their way into the stadium.

The club’s decision to accept payment through the EcoCash platform and POS machines was refreshing in a period when we have severe cash shortages, and the team’s leadership should be applauded for their move.

However, we feel they could have done more in terms of managing the system through the sale of pre-match tickets which would have made it easier for fans to stream into the stadium without the kind of chaos we witnessed on Sunday.

We hope big lessons have been picked and tomorrow’s big match between Dynamos and Highlanders, which is also expected to draw a massive crowd, will not be marred by the problems we saw last Sunday.

Rufaro, being smaller and more compact than the National Sports Stadium, makes it difficult to control a crowd surge in the event there is chaos at the gates and this can spark a stampede with deadly consequences.

We have already seen this unfortunate situation happening at the FNB Stadium this year when fans lost their lives amid the chaos at the gates as people tried to squeeze their way into the ground to watch the Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

Let’s guard against that and we hope all those who are part of the organisers for tomorrow’s big match have taken note of what happened in South Africa and put in measures to ensure we won’t have any unfortunate incidents at Rufaro.

We also want to take this opportunity to praise the CAPS United fans for the exemplary way they reacted to their team’s defeat at the hands of their biggest rivals.

Even though they were pained by the defeat, it was good to see them remaining behind to salute their defeated players and coaches and these are the beautiful scenes we want to see at our stadiums.

This is just a sport and there will always be winners and losers, it’s part of the game, and the CAPS United fans set an example to others, including some Highlanders hooligans who can’t accept defeat and usually respond to that by raining missiles on the pitch, that there is beauty even in defeat.

Hopefully, whoever wins tomorrow we won’t see some unsavoury scenes and, at the end of the day, football will be the big winner.