Times Of Swaziland: AMID INTERNAL CHALLENGES... ‘BULL’ DERBY FREEZE REQUEST REJECTED

AMID INTERNAL CHALLENGES... ‘BULL’ DERBY FREEZE REQUEST REJECTED
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Machawe Fakudze on 06/11/2024 07:14:00


MBABANE – Rejected!
This is the story of Mbabane Highlanders’ plea to postpone the
much-anticipated ‘mother of all derbies’ penned for the Mavuso Sports
Centre, on Sunday. The black and white capital city giants will play host to
their sworn-rivals Mbabane Swallows, but they wanted the match to be stopped due
to challenges within their camp. According to Inkunzi’ emnyama Public
Relations Officer (PRO) Kenneth Dlamini, they wrote to the Premier League of
Eswatini (PLE), seeking the postponement of the derby and the match against
Young Buffaloes.
Scheduled
This match against Amathole’zinyathi has been scheduled for the Mkhuzweni
Technical Centre, this afternoon. “It is true that we have requested that the
PLE stops our game against Buffaloes as well as the derby, which is scheduled
for Sunday. We are still waiting for the response; maybe they had sent it via
the club’s email address,” Dlamini said. The former Highlanders National
Supporters Committee (NSC) chairman said they have informed the Managing
Director (MD) Chief Ally Kgomongwe about this move.
“The chief is aware and he gave us the green light,” he said. The PLE Acting
Football Manager, Banele Masondo, confirmed that they received the Mthunzi
Ginindza-led side’s request on postponing the games. “We didn’t grant them
the request as it was not within the stipulated seven-day period of changing
fixtures, as per the rules,” Masondo said. According to the 2024/25 MTN
Premier League Rules and Regulations, Article 4.3 states that should any club
wish to request a change to a fixture, such request must be submitted at least
seven days before the scheduled start of the match. Fixtures will only be
amended in extreme circumstances, at the discretion of the PLE.
It was recently reported that Highlanders had challenges on and off the field,
which made the team to cancel all its actives, including training. An impeccable
source close to the ‘Bull’s kraal alleged that some players boycotted
yesterday’s training, as they sought an address from the management on the
ongoing challenges in the team.