Swazi Observer

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‘COUNTRY A MOCKERY’

By NOMALUNGELO PHIRI | 2024-11-21

SOCCER - IT'S not funny anymore!
This was blurted out by senators as they reflected on the country's sub-standard performance and governance of football these days.

They succinctly stated that Eswatini is now a mockery because of what is happening.

The senators are unhappy with Sihlangu Semnikati's performance and unavailability of Confederation of African Football (CAF) approved stadiums to host international games.

They said the poor results are not good for the country. This was during the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Second Quarter Budget Perfomance Debate at Senate yesterday. Senate Deputy President Ndumiso Mdluli said he believed the country could do better, highlighting that it was sad that Sihlangu head coach Zdravko Logarusic had downed tools at the expense of the country's image.

"Our football is not giving a good image of the country; there is a lot that needs to be improved. Learning about the absence of the coach was indeed a shocker, as the team did not do well against Mali. What are the plans to improve football in the country? it is not going well for us," he said.

Mdluli further asked about the Sports Bill, which should be guiding the ministry to improve sports in the country.

"We had hoped the ministry would have tabled the report by now," he added.
Senator Princess Ncengencenge said she did not see Eswatini excelling in football, and was asking herself about the country’s direction in sport.

"We are being made a mockery through football; do we have the right resources to improve football?

Does investing so much in football help us as a country? do we even see ourselves winning the Africa Cup?" she asked.

She stated that the country should only focus on domestic tournaments, saying the issue of stadiums is costing the country whilst the national team is not giving the expected results.
Responding to the national team's poor performance, Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani Nzima said hosting games outside the country is costy as each match cost roughly E900 000.

"This is also contributing to the poor results and I want to assure you that the Sihlangu coach is still in office, there were just a few internal issues and we believe he will soon execute his duties.

We are quite confident that his return will boost the team in the next games," he said. He also stated that the rehabilitation of Somhlolo National Stadium is ongoing and the ban from hosting Catergory A matches by FIFA and CAF remained the biggest challenge. However, there is still a shortfall of E32 million to complete the works.

"The ongoing refurbishments with adequate funding will make the stadium available for use soon," added Nzima.

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