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KELVIN Kaindu is one person who would dread walking down Lobengula Street in the City of Kings and Queens. His players perhaps made full use of the traditional “players’ day” as Mondays are known, to hide their faces not from the scorching heat, but also from angry fans after a disastrous weekend that went from bad to worse.

Kaindu’s tenure as head coach at Highlanders was subject to massive debate after the Sunday home defeat to ZPC Kariba, which effectively pushed them out of the running for the Premier Soccer League title. We certainly have no qualms with people debating whether Kaindu is still the right man to lead the country’s oldest football club after failing in the three seasons that he has been in the country to wrest the championship from Dynamos, who look better placed to romp to victory again.

However, we have serious problems with people who allow emotions to cloud their judgment and then resort to turning football stadia into maiming zones.

Hartsfield Stadium was turned into a war zone after the final whistle as emotionally charged Highlanders fans turned against their own players and coaches, throwing all sorts of missiles they could lay their hands on, leaving people who should be their heroes requiring police protection. In fact, Highlanders players and coaches, together with ZPC players, coaches as well as match officials who were caught in the crossfire, were cramped in the centre of the pitch for a while, frightened to death like school kids who had just heard a grenade go boom for the first time in their lives, as they sought cover from charging fans who demanded answers after watching their favourite team put up yet another big yawn in the name of football.

And if there is anyone who was doubting why ZPC Kariba are among the contenders for the title, it was answered on Sunday as they outclassed their more illustrious opponents in all departments and anyone coming from Mars would have refused that they were facing Highlanders for the first time in their strong hold.

This reminded many of an incident which took place in Brazil before the 2014 Fifa World Cup when Corinthians Football Club fans used wire cutters to breach the perimeter mesh around a coaching area in São Paulo, so they could berate their team’s players for a poor run.

Media reports said no one was seriously injured, but the invading fans, numbering about 100, grabbed and throttled striker Paolo Guerrero, who scored the winner against Chelsea in the 2012 Club World Cup final. Other players and coaches were also manhandled.

“They tried to strangle the player who scored the most important goal in our club’s history. We didn’t deserve this,” club president Mario Gobbi was quoted as saying after the game.

Just like at Hartsfield, Highlanders players could be seen using match balls and cooler boxes to cover themselves from raining stones, while the coaching staff desperately ducked, waving note books to minimise head injuries. Is that football? Is that how civilised people air their grievances or drive their point home? Football stadia should be safe for players and officials. They should be safe for all fans, young and old, including the disabled and the sooner Highlanders fans who were involved in the skirmishes on Sunday realise that they used the wrong platform to deal with their players, the better for everyone.

We are of the notion that a true club fan would never raise their hand to break the bones of the same players they expect to turn up the next weekend and make their team proud again. We applaud the police for their swift reaction as we shudder to think what could have happened had those marauding fans got hold of the players, or expatriate coach Kaindu.

Barely two moths ago, a Highlanders fan died in the skirmishes with Dynamos supporters after the Bulawayo giants had lost another home game, and we want to remind people that no life should be lost in the name of football. Football is sport, and sport is meant to entertain us all and losing a game or the league is certainly not the end of the world. Stop the violence now.