BIG DERBY RAKES IN AROUND E0.2M FROM TICKETS

MBABANE – About E200 000 was raised in Sunday’s MTN Premier League grand closing capital city derby between Mbabane Swallows and Mbabane Highlanders.

The 7 500 fully-seated carrying capacity Mavuso Sports Centre was packed to the brim on the day, as emaSwati came in numbers to witness this national fixture, which brings together all types of people as opposed to just the local football fanatics. It has transpired that the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) had prepared 6 000 tickets for the ‘Big Derby’ and 2 000 tickets for the security forces derby between champions Royal Leopard and fourth-placed finishers Young Buffaloes.

“We had printed 6 000 tickets for Mavuso and 2 000 tickets for KaLanga. The numbers at Mavuso were certainly impressive as less than 50 tickets were left. Unfortunately, we’re still reconciling the figures as sometimes the tickets get spoilt and torn yet in our system they still count as sold when they were thrown away,” explained PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati yesterday.

He was questioned on how much was raised on the day as the crowd at Mavuso appeared to match the full capacity of the arena. Vilakati explained that they could not accommodate full capacity as they still had COVID-19 regulations to comply with. These include a metre social distancing and wearing of a mask. “We can’t say how many were actually sold at the moment until we know how many were spoilt and did not count, otherwise we were impressed with the attendance,” he said.

Vilakati said even for KaLanga Technical Centre, about 400 spectators watched the goalless security forces derby; the figures would be released once compiling is done. Each ticket sold at E30 which means the ‘Big Derby’ may have sold close to E200 000 worth of tickets as less than 50 were left even though the specific number could not be obtained. It remains to be seen how much the clubs will receive as there are some deductions yet to be effected before the remainder is shared by Swallows and Highlanders equally. The first round derby was won by Highlanders and had at least 5 000 tickets printed, but less than 4 000 were sold at E50 as it was a double-header.

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