Times Of Swaziland: EFA DEMANDS ANSWERS ON POOR REFEREEING

EFA DEMANDS ANSWERS ON POOR REFEREEING
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Pholsile Hlophe on 20/12/2022 08:47:00


MBABANE – The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu has condemned the violent scenes during football
league games.
Speaking on the national radio yesterday morning, Mngomezulu made particular
reference to the football mayhem that unfolded during the Mbabane derby, where
Mbabane Swallows lost 1-2 to Highlanders. Swallows were denied an equalising
goal scored by former Eswatini national team player Felix Badenhorst, who was
denied a brace when his strike was ruled out for offside by referee Thembinkosi
Dlamini in consultation with assistant Zamani Simelane.
The supposedly off-side goal was believed to be the cause of the violence, which
resulted in attempted assault of the match officials who were accused of
deliberately denying Swallows a legit goal. Swallows fans who were seated in the
south stand at Mavuso Sports Ground, descended like an army of wasps onto the
pitch, baying for the referee and officials blood. The referees ran for dear
life into the dressing rooms tunnel. In the same turmoil, a fan was stabbed in
the buttocks while one Swallows fan was arrested by the police amid the chaotic
violent scene.While the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) awaits full reports
from the match officials before they can voice their reactions and possible
resolution to this unsporting behavior, as communicated by Chief Operations
Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati on Sunday, the EFA has summoned the PLE and the
Eswatini Referees Association (ERA) to a meeting tomorrow.
meeting
“The football association and stakeholders will have a meeting tomorrow
(today). These include the various sectors involved in the staging of football
including the PLE and referees association. “The first stage will look at the
safety precautions; starting with the seating arrangements, the rules of the
game and how much people know about these rules. As EFA, we will address this
issue immediately and look at the cause of these violent scenes so that such is
not repeated. We look at all aspects and make sure that we don’t waste
time,” Mngomezulu said. The EFA CEO further highlighted that violence in
football games painted a negative picture to the world and the sponsors who
invested their money in football development as well as the world football
mother body FIFA.
Sympathised
Mngomezulu cautioned fans against taking the law into their hands by attacking
officials and further sympathised with football lovers as well as members of the
public who were affected by the uproar during last weekend’s derby. Noteworthy
is that Mbabane Highlanders were also caught in a similar predicament three 
weeks ago at the same venue when their fans invaded the pitch to attack referee
Mbongeni Shongwe and his assistants after a controversial goal was awarded to
Manzini Sea Birds.