S.Africa tragedy prompts venue switch

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Football chiefs have agreed to move a derby match between two of South Africa's top clubs from the ground where 45 people died at the same fixture last season.

The Kaizer Chiefs team had been due to play Orlando Pirates -- one of the most eagerly awaited games of the season -- at Ellis Park on December 13.

The match will now take place at the bigger Soccer City venue on the outskirts of Johannesburg in a plan agreed at a meeting between the two clubs and league officials on Tuesday.

There had been public pressure to change the venue of the game after the tragedy in April this year in which 45 spectators died in a crush of fans trying to get into the Ellis Park ground to watch the match between the two sides.

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The Chiefs, whose home game it is, had said they intended playing this season's derby at the same venue but faced heavy criticism for the decision.

Soccer City, the traditional home of South African football has a 75,000-seater capacity, but Kaizer Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung said only 65,000 tickets would be sold to avoid potential for a repeat of the disaster.

A commission of inquiry into the disaster at Ellis Park has been sitting at the Pretoria High Court in recent weeks hearing evidence into the circumstances of the deaths.