PLE CLEARS AIR ON BIBLE SOCIETY CUP GUEST PLAYERS
MBABANE – Some of the teams that will play in the 2022 Bible Society Cup have concerns about the rules of the tournament.
This year’s edition, which is the fourth, will feature defending champions Manzini Wanderers, Mbabane Highlanders, Moneni Pirates and Denver Sundowns. The tournament was launched last week Thursday at Bible Society Eswatini at Mahlanya, in the presence of Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane and Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati, among the dignitaries. The PLE, through its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenneth Makhanya, released the Rules and Regulations, which among them is the issue that concerns the teams, which is the number of guest players allowed per club in a match.
Guest
According to Article 3 (2) of the 2022 Bible Society Eswatini Cup Rules, which states that: All participating clubs may field up to four guest players in this tournament, while 3.2.1 states that: A maximum of two guest players shall be on the field during each game. Manzini Wanderers General Manager and Head of Public Affairs Mlungisi ‘Mluka’ Ndzinisa said the rules were confusing as they thought that the tournament was made to assess players that they were intending to sign for the new season.
Purpose
He said they met as teams and saw that the rules would defeat the whole purpose of the tournament. On the other hand, Moneni Pirates Manager Twoman Masuku said the issue of guest players needed to be clarified as they did not understand it. “Does this mean I should ask, say a player from Mbabane Swallows to play for us or we should use our trialists? This is confusing,” Masuku said. Meanwhile, PLE CEO Kenneth Makhanya clarified the issue, saying when referring to a guest player, they meant the teams’ trialists or players being assessed with the view to register them for the new season and he did not comment on the number of the guest players. The tournament will be played on Saturday at the Mavuso Sports Centre, starting at 9am and the finals would be played at 2:30pm.
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