LOBBYING TO CANCEL SEASON UNDERWAY

MBABANE – It is now almost inevitable that the current local football season will be declared null and void.

A majority of the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Board of Governors (BoGs) have started vigorous lobbying behind-the-scenes to have the current football season nullified.  This is despite the stance by the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) that the currently suspended local football season will be completed.

However, classified information gathered by this newspaper has revealed that the BoGs have been holding clandestine meetings to interrogate this issue and the consensus is that the current season should be cancelled by the football authorities.

concluded

For the record, only two premier league tournaments have not been concluded in the country thus far and these are the MTN Premier League (eight set of games remaining) and the EswatiniBank Cup, which was in the quarter-final stages before the games were indefinitely put on hold by the EFA in light of the wide-spreading COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest statistics, Eswatini, which is currently in a partial lockdown, has now recorded two deaths out of 123 who have tested positive yesterday.

assess

The PLE had initially set a special meeting for May 20 (two weeks from now) to assess the situation surrounding the virus and take an informed decision, but the organisation’s chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula confirmed to this publication that this gathering would no longer be taking place as the coronavirus situation is getting worse by each passing day.

The chairman actually fell short of confirming that the season will not be completed despite the constant assurances by the EFA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngometulu to the contrary.

“I think as football people, we need to be practical and real about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the completion of the current football season. We may try to deny it but the truth is that chances of finishing the season are next to zero and this is what the BoGs have been discussing. A majority are of the agreement that the current season should be declared over and we need to start planning for the next one especially because the coronavirus crisis is not getting any better.

nullified

‘‘The PLE executive will soon be informed of the BoGs’ decision to have the current season nullified and what must be clear is that there is nothing the EFA can do about that. This decision (to have the season nullified) has been taken by the BoGs and what is left now is for the EFA to make it official,” a member of the BoGs confided last night.

The member further clarified that the decision on what will happen to the premier league season rests on the onus of the PLE, dismissing the assertion that the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) will take that decision.

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