COSAFA DENOUNCES PLANNED PROTEST

MBABANE – COSAFA acknowledge that it is aware of the planned march by the Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO) against the national team Sihlangu game this afternoon.

Sihlangu will open their campaign against Mauritius in Group B of the Council of Southern Africa Football Association (COSAFA) Cup. SWALIMO had come out to say they would be protesting at the King Zwelithini Stadium where the game will be played this afternoon, starting at 2pm. COSAFA, who are the hosts of the regional tournament, said they were aware that SWALIMO had announced its intention to march to the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday (today) ahead of the Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup 2022 Group B clash between Mauritius and Eswatini.

According to a statement released by the COSAFA Secretary General Sue Destombes, SWALIMO had called for Eswatini to be banned from participating in COSAFA events and would hand over a memorandum stating as such to tournament officials at the venue.

Mandated

"COSAFA is a body mandated by its members to develop the sport, in the Southern African region, and unless there is a suspension imposed by FIFA or the Confederation of African Football (CAF), COSAFA has no standing to bar a member association (MA) from participating in its competitions if the association has fulfilled all their obligations to do so. COSAFA does not involve itself in the national politics of its MAs, and is focused solely on providing a platform for players, coaches, match officials and administrators from the region to develop their careers, and grow the wider football family at grassroots level,” reads part of the statement.

As exclusively reported by our sister publication, Times Sunday, SWALIMO had organised the march through its Durban Branch, led by lawyer Sydney Maseko. The permit was granted by the Durban Metropolitan Police, South Command Centre, Isipingo and it would commence from Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) at noon today and end at the stadium where Sihlangu would be playing against Mauritius. The venue for the match is King Zwelithini Stadium.

Acting President of the political movement Busi Mayisela confirmed the march and said they wanted to mobilise the international community and amplify the calls for democracy in the country.

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