E2.6M COVID-19 TESTS FOR EWFA

MBABANE – It will cost E2 652 000 for the 13 women’s football teams to run eight COVID-19 PCR tests in the upcoming 2021/2022 football season.

The women’s football league is projected to resume on October 30, 2021. The Eswatini Women’s Football Association (EWFA) would spend about E331 500 for the 13 women’s football teams to run one session of the COVID-19 tests. The EWFA Acting Communications Officer, Aaron ‘Katalala’ Mavimbela, said the arrangement was that all the teams would get tested on Saturday in locations closer to their various residences. The COVID-19 clearance certificate is a mandatory request for players and officials partcipating in any league.

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Mavimbela said the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) would assist them in catering for the costs of the tests. According to Mavimbela, the teams would have to test every three weeks. He said each team was expected to play 24 games and that means they would test eight times in the 2021/2022 football season. COVID-19 RT-PCR tests cost R850 and each team is allowed to register a maximum of 30 players, which adds up to 390 players across the 13 teams. Calculations depict that the collective cost of the COVID-19 RT-PCR test for 390 players is E331 500. This implies that the total cost of the tests for the entire season will be E2 652 000.

For an association that has a proposed annual budget of about E300 000, as tabled during an extra ordinary meeting held on September 15, 2021, Mavimbela advised the players and team officials to collaborate with the EFA in eliminating the costs by taking the COVID-19 vaccine. “The clarity we got was that teams will have to test after three weeks. We have not personally met the teams, but we advised them to get vaccinated to help cut the costs. Some agree that it’s the way to go, but let me emphasize that it’s not compulsory. Players aged below 18 can discuss with their guardians then make the choice,” Mavimbela said.

Meanwhile, the EWFA’s budget proposal reflected E100 000 COVID-19 Relief Fund injection from the EFA which, is a drop in the ocean as compared to the Premier League of Eswatini’s E800 000 Relief Fund. Meanwhile, Southern Divas Chairman Mfanzile Vilakati said the women’s football teams should have been included in the vaccination timetable that was released by the PLE last week.

“I still believe that the vaccination for women’s football teams should have been mandatory. As much as it is a personal choice, this looks like our only hope to get back to life as we know it and bring back fans,” Vilakati said. The teams would be notified of the venues and time for their COVID-19 tests during the course of the week.

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