Low-life with green laser causes a stir at Loftus
In Saturday’s do-or-die match between the Vodacom Bulls and The Sharks at Loftus Versfeld you might have noticed that someone in the stands thought it would be fun to bring along his green laser and point it aT people’s eyes, including the eyes of Bulls and Sharks players during the course of the match.
The laser was first noticed in the 37th minute when Bulls captain Victor Matfield went up to referee Jonathan Kaplan. The Sharks had just scored a try and Lambie was lining up the conversion when Matfield, after receiving further complaints from his players, said to Kaplan: “There is somebody in the stadium with a green laser and he is shining it into our eyes”. Kaplan’s response to the complaint was that Matfield should take it up with the Loftus Versfeld stadium manager and that he can’t do anything about it.
Early in the second half the same green laser surfaced again as Pat Lambie was lining up a penalty conversion in the 45th minute. This time viewers at home could see the laser reflecting on Lambie’s face as the Supersport cameras focused on him. Lambie went on to miss the conversion and again a player complained to referee Kaplan to which he again repsonded to take it up with the stadium manager. Immediately after the missed conversion social networks like Twitter and Facebook were buzzing with comments of anger and disbelieve. Some of the comments that appeared on our Twitter timeline included:
“@sharksworld: lovely… someone’s shining a laser at Lambie class, Bulls fans, class”
“@KevinMcCallum: Some piece of trash is using a laser to shine in Lambie’s eyes. He misses the penalty.”
Now, it is easy and understandable for fans to start blaming Bulls fans for this behaviour because they could only see the second incident that was caught on camera and not the first one involving the Bulls players. The reality is that this person went to the stadium with his little “toy”, with the goal to the try and disrupt players from both sides by shining it directly at their eyes. He probably also pointed the laser at the eyes of thousand of fans who was out there to enjoy the game and support their favourite team.
The misuse of these lasers, primarily used for business presentations and stargazers, are not uncommon and 2008 there were plenty of reported incidents, including Soccer World Cup qualifiers and UEFA soccer matches. In 2005 a US man was also arrested for pointing a laser at the cockpit of a small jet flying overhead. Most stadiums world-wide have prohibited the lasers but it is extremely difficult for security personnel to snuff out the lasers as it is no bigger than a cigarette lighter and is easily concealed.
As a final note and just to make it clear, this person is not a fan or supporter of the Bulls, Sharks or rugby in general. He is a goofball that was intent on spoiling the fun for thousands, even millions of fans with his idiotic and criminal behaviour. Some of these lasers are so powerful that they can cause permanent damage to the eyes of targets.
Should this person ever be apprehended, he should be permanently banned from attending another sporting event. Although the incident may not have impacted on the outcome of the game, this type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and unnecessary in any sporting code.
If you have any information that could result in the apprehension and banning of this person, please forward details to media@rugby15.co.za (all details will be kept strictly confidential) – It is assumed that the person was seated behind the posts on the Northern stand of the stadium. Lets stop this now and send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated, before it gets out of hand or causes damage to any players or fans.
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