INCREASE FOREIGN QUOTA - ALLY

MBABANE – There is a reported ongoing mobilisation among some Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) teams, particularly the elite, to once again express serious concern about the security forces clubs alleged unfair advantage.

Impeccable sources leaked it to this publication yesterday that the non-governmental teams in the PLE were not taking the invasion of their star players by the security forces rivals lightly.
Through the Simunye concept, launched last year by Mbabane Highlanders’ Managing Director, South African Chief Ally Kgomongwe, to have teams unite and be able to assist each other and grow together;  the security forces teams who are MTN Premier League champions Royal Leopard, Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes, will be challenged strongly in the coming days.

Storm

The country’s ‘Big 3’ teams in Highlanders, Mbabane Swallows and Manzini Wanderers, are at the forefront of Simunye, with Pirates and Tambankulu Callies also known members among others. The latest storm comes after Leopard and Green Mamba signed players from Moneni Pirates, Highlanders and Swallows. Green Mamba can be said to have sparked it all after signing former Swallows midfielder Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu, immediately after signing former Highlanders and senior national team star striker Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa right under the noses of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2022/23-bound team next month. “We need to speak up about this unfair advantage because these teams are taking everything we have; they are just taking every player and unfairly so.

Meeting

“We can’t say much right now but we’ll wait for the chairman of Simunye as you know it’s Ally then from that meeting we’ll make a statement but there’s a lot we have in mind that must change,” said Swallows’ Zwane. Kgomongwe affirmed the call to complain about the way the security forces clubs were recruiting their best players through offering them government jobs.

Urgently

“I have been called to convene a meeting urgently, so I’m working on coming to Eswatini as quickly as I can to meet with the teams. Remember we have Simunye which is a platform that provides unity among teams and now is the time we face this one head-on. “I’d say I’m not scared for me but for the other teams we play with, because we can’t sit back and watch them die because of unfair competition. We will meet probably this week and then issue our statement but one of the things we’ll call for to counter these teams is an increase to seven or eight of the foreign quota,” Kgomongwe said. Currently, teams can have up to five foreign players. He said if push came to shove, the teams were ready to take this as far beyond the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) to governmental level. Meanwhile, Leopard have also been linked with one of Pirates’ brightest prospects in attacking midfielder Mphumuzo Sangweni, among some new incomings.

Comment

There was no immediate comment from security forces teams, with Green Mamba’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mandla Sibiya also not answering his cellphone. Meanwhile, during the PLE annual general meeting (AGM) last Saturday at Sigwaca House, the PLE Executive Committee, tabled the report about the security forces teams following a probe into their operations based on the teams’ long cry over their unfair advantage, especially when it came to resources like transport, jobs and recruitment, among other things.

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