TEAMS HANKERING FOR E100 000 PARTICIPATION FEES

MBABANE – It could be thrown into disarray.

The much-awaited resumption of the 2020/2021 MTN Premier League season is facing the danger of being heavily compromised, if information gathered yesterday is anything to go by. 

The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) announced a few days ago that the league games would be resuming next weekend (12 December 2020) and released the official fixtures. 

While the decision for the resumption of the games has been met with a stamp of approval by most elite clubs, it has emerged that the non-release of the E100 000 participation fees is now becoming a sticky subject and a matter of great concern.

concerns

Apparently, some of the clubs have already voiced their concerns with the PLE office on the non-release of the money in question.

“The teams have indicated to the PLE office that they want to use the money for registration purposes and other issues before the games start. Indications are that the money will be released sometime next week and this has not gone down well with most of the clubs. The tricky part here is that the PLE is not obligated to release the money now because such is not stated in the rules of the league. So, the money can still be released after the games have started and this is causing uneasiness among the clubs,” our highly-placed sources at the PLE confided. 

predicament

Adding more to the predicament are reports that only two elite clubs, from the security forces, have so far registered for the new season while the rest are said to be waiting for the participating fees to start the process. 

“The challenge is that the PLE office is not specific when the money will be released because most of the clubs are relying on it to register players. Some teams are actually threatening not to honour the games next week unless they get the participation fees,” the source added.

One of the teams’ officials, who preferred anonymity, conceded that registering for the new season was a challenge for them at the moment. 

“The financial muscle of the teams is not the same because some of us rely heavily on the participation fees to get our season going including registration. So, obviously the delay in releasing the money is a concern for a lot of us and if the money is not availed, it would be difficult to honour the opening games next week,” the official pointed out.  

PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati said teams that had grievances should feel free to approach his office for assistance.

accordingly

“Teams can only get answers on whatever concerns they have from the PLE. The issue of participation fees is being handled internally and teams will be advised accordingly what will happen but they know the channels to follow,” Vilakati said. 

Asked on the issue of individual awards for last season’s league, Vilakati said that was still being handled by their accounts department.

“The process of paying out the individual awards is being done electronically and the office is busy with that now. As soon as the payments are done, we will then reveal the names of the award winners,” the PLE COO said.

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