‘BULL’, LEOPARD CLASH IN 6 WEEKS

MBABANE – It’s a headache for the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) as far as finishing the MTN Premier League first round is concerned.

They have competing teams at the top of the summit down to the top four, games that must play at the same time. However, it is at the top that the PLE has a challenge as there are leaders Mbabane Highlanders who are now left with Royal Leopard to conclude the round and probably decide the first round incentive of E200 000 winner. The incentive winner can be decided tomorrow when Leopard take on army side, Young Buffaloes.

If Leopard lose, then Highlanders will not play their game as a decider but as one to extend their lead further from the defending champions as they will already have won the E200 000 – Leopard will be left with six points to play for as they are seven points behind right now. However, the PLE now finds itself in a dilemma as Leopard are into the TOTALEnergies CAF Confederation Cup group stages in which they were due to play their first match this Sunday away against Libya’s Al-Ittihad before the match was rescheduled to March 6. The police outfit take on Manzini Sea Birds on Sunday while Highlanders have no action until they can play Leopard, which if the CAF fixtures are anything to go by, can only be after March 20, 2022. The final group game for Leopard is on April 3 at home to Algeria’s Saoura, but every other weekend from next week is about the Confed Cup for them.

Unless the PLE decides to play Leopard and Highlanders midweek alongside the other competing match of the round pitting Young Buffaloes and Manzini Sea Birds. Ingwe Emabalabala as Leopard are fondly known will have their first group match against Saoura of Algeria away on February 20, which they will be on the road three to four days before match-day. They will then be home to South Africa’s Orlando Pirates a week later at the Mavuso Sports Centre on February 27, travel to Libya a few days later to play Al-Ittihad of Libya on March 6, this is the postponed fixture which was due to be played this Sunday.

The weekend after Al-Ittihad, they will travel to South Africa for the return leg with Orlando Pirates on March 13 after which they will fly to Libya to play Al-Ittihad in the second leg on March 20. It is only after this match that they will have time to breathe before the final group match against Saoura on April 3 at Mavuso Sports Centre. This leaves the PLE with only March 27 as a free weekend for Leopard to play domestic games.

decisions

“We will try our best to balance everything up, but what hurts is that we can’t please everyone and people want decisions to favour them. You start having midweek fixtures, someone complains, you don’t play games, someone will cry and say we’ve killed their momentum they wanted to play so it’s tough for us as PLE,” responded PLE Chairman Mark Carmichael when asked about the prevailing situation. Carmichael said he was aware of the fixture concerns but explained that what teams and anyone following football had to understand was that there was no infrastructure in the country and clubs did not own stadiums. “We have to balance our games between super league, first division and premier league as the regions are back and they use the same venues we use, then people talk about disorganised fixtures. Now we have CAF where Leopard is involved every weekend and then the first round games. What do we do in these situations? Sihlangu also has matches against Somalia in March so we have to balance all these up,” he wondered without really expecting an answer.

Nonetheless, Carmichael said they would wait to get the official CAF fixture correspondence from the Eswatini Football Association (EFA). He said they would have to meet with the relevant stakeholders to find a way forward on this, but a plan was going to be made to have the first round play to the end timely. Carmichael acknowledged that the reality of football calls for Leopard to play domestic and the CAF inter-club tournament without causing a backlog in the MTN Premier League but then again said it was tough when the club writes and cites risk to injuries as well as jetlag due to flying, which are things they are considerate of. However, Leopard’s PRO Frank Hurube was of the view that as much as their schedule in CAF was tight and their rivals very tough, he preferred playing the domestic games as well.

understand

“We understand the plight the PLE finds itself in as a team, but we believe and would like it if they were to also call us into the round table about this state. Personally, I’d like us to play CAF and the domestic games because the backlog is working against us in the competition as it allows others to then open a gap,” he said. He said they would be ready to take the domestic and international pressure simultaneously as they understood the situation while also pointing out that the national team Sihlangu Semnikati also had camp in March ahead of the Somalia match which is an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifier. He said they would take on Highlanders on the day the PLE finds suitable for them, otherwise they understood the situation completely. Highlanders’ PRO Mandla Madonsela said it would disrupt their momentum and rhythm to break that long.

He said they would for now wait for direction from the PLE otherwise it is a break they had not yet even realised as they were yet to analyse the CAF fixtures and see what they meant for them. Meanwhile, an impeccable source said the match could be played on February 16 which is next Wednesday but the PLE failed to confirm this , insisting it was yet to sit and consider the CAF fixtures.

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