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THE MERCURY<\/p>\n
Kings Park Stadium. Photo: Marilyn Bernard<\/p>\n
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Durban – The ban on alcohol consumption on the Kings Park outer fields for all future Sharks matches has resulted in a fierce clash of the fans, many of whom have come out fighting against what they say is a draconian measure by the police and the KZN Liquor Board. <\/p>\n
Others have welcomed the crackdown, saying rugby will benefit. <\/p>\n
The tough stance of the police and the liquor board comes after the beating to death of former UK Royal Marine Brett Williams on the outer fields last month. <\/p>\n
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As of this weekend\u2019s match against the Cheetahs at Kings Park, police and liquor inspectors will monitor the outer fields, and anyone caught drinking alcohol will be arrested. <\/p>\n
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Brett Williams was beaten to death after a rugby match at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n
Independent Newspapers<\/span><\/p>\n In a letter to The Mercury, Sharks fan Peter Bodill, who has been attending matches at Kings Park for more than 45 years, said although the death of Williams was tragic, it had been the only such incident at the stadium. <\/p>\n \u201cWhy pick on rugby fans who have enjoyed this long tradition of having a \u2018boerie roll\u2019 and beer after a match? Take a walk around the many braais and camps that are set up on the outer fields after a match and you will notice a fantastic family atmosphere enjoyed by young and old,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Many respondents on websites, including IOL, private investigator Brad Nathanson\u2019s Facebook page and other news sites, called the stance a \u201ctypical knee-jerk reaction\u201d, and said the police did not have the capacity to control it. Hendri Jonker wrote that alcohol was not to blame, but people. <\/p>\n \u201cThis reaction falls in the same category as people who want to ban guns because the guns kill people,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Craig Dennis said: \u201cGoodbye Kings Park. No more season ticket money from me.\u201d <\/p>\n Jason Kelland agreed, saying: \u201cTime to sell up and enjoy @ home with my family and friends\u2026 End of an era, RIP.\u201d <\/p>\n However, Clint (no surname provided) wrote: \u201cMany refer to tradition and the culture on the outer fields but, to be fair, it is a little concerning when you realise that this culture effectively revolves around getting drunk. Or at the very least tipsy. <\/p>\n \u201cSociety as a whole is seemingly far too accepting of drinking and getting drunk.\u201d <\/p>\n Others said it was about time the stance was taken. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s how it is done in Oz and it works. Thoughts to Brett\u2019s family,\u201d Regan King Hough said. <\/p>\n Another fan, Vera Howard, described how she, as a child, would go to the rugby games with her family. However, when she, as an adult, took her family, the experience was different. <\/p>\n Drunken men sat behind them \u201cusing the most disgusting language and their topic of conversation was nothing to do with rugby, it was absolutely our worst nightmare and when my husband asked them to watch their language in front of his family, they all laughed and dripped their beer on us\u201d. <\/p>\n She has never been back. <\/p>\n But banning booze or not, Alpheus Nethononda feels the Shark Tank has been \u201csoiled forever\u201d by the \u201cacts of those hooligans\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cThey embarrassed this beautiful game,\u201d he said. – The Mercury <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE MERCURY Kings Park Stadium. Photo: Marilyn Bernard Related Stories Booze ban for rugby fans Rugby death accused \u2018could be aggressive\u2019 Kings Park 5 granted bail Hundreds at slain rugby fan\u2019s funeral Durban – The ban on alcohol consumption on the Kings Park outer fields for all future Sharks matches has resulted in a fierce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-19281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}