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FOLLOWING PLE CHARGES BLUNDER: ‘BULL’ ESCAPE HEAVY FINE

30/12/2022 09:14:00 Machawe Fakudze

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MBABANE - Christmas ‘came early’ for Mbabane Highlanders, courtesy of referees who submitted their match reports late to the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) offices.

These reports were from the MTN Premier League match between the black and white capital giants and Manzini Sea Birds, which ended in a nasty incident after a section of the former’s fans bayed for the blood of seasoned referee Mbongeni Shongwe. The supporters invaded the Mavuso Sports Centre in pursuit of Shongwe, whom they accused of allowing a goal scored by Sandumenzi Zwane allegedly with an aid of his hand. The game eventually ended in a 2-1 scoreline in favour of Izinyoni Zolwandle.

This mayhem made the PLE to haul Highlanders before the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC) to answer for what had happened at Mavuso on that faithful evening. They were charged for contravening four of the 2022/23 MTN Premier League Rules and Regulations and faced about E200 000 in fines.

The club was represented by top Lawyer Bongani ‘Bhanyaza’ Mdluli in the case, which was before EFA DC Chairman Thulani Sibandze at Sigwaca House. The Dumsani ‘DU’ Makhanya-led side were lucky, as a source close to the matter confirmed that Highlanders escaped with a lesser fine following delay in the arrival of match officials’ reports in the PLE offices. This left the PLE to present a report by the stadium representative to use when charging the capital city giants.

The EFA DC, after hearing Highlanders’ case came out with a guilty verdict on three of the four counts they faced. It was then that they were fined E70 000 but as if that was not enough, the capital city giants also played their MTN Premier League match against Tambuti behind closed doors.
According to the MTN Premier League Rules 2022/23 Article 8 (13), the match commissioner shall also prepare a match report and submit same to the PLE within the timelines prescribed in Article 8 (11); this article states that the referee’s report presented in hard copy or through electronic means, is to reach the offices of the PLE by 4pm, two days following the match in question, failure to adhere to this time frame and to comply shall not render the contents of the report null and void.

Both the referee’s report and that of the match commissioner shall provide conclusive proof pertaining to any circumstance(s) regarding the match. The reports, either the original or duplicate (bearing the PLE received stamp) shall be admissible evidence during the DC hearings. When reached for comments the PLE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenneth Makhanya was diplomatic in his response as he said he was not sure of the Highlanders fine this publication was referring to as he wondered the fines were lesser compared to what.

“The DC’s judgments are issued in line with the rules and regulations,” Makhanya briefly explained. The Highlanders mayhem was followed by another one involving rivals Swallows, who also invaded the Mavuso Sports Centre to attack referee Thembinkosi Dlamini for allegedly ruling against a goal scored by Felix Badenhorst, in which they lost 2-1. Swallows are yet to appear before the DC as they face close to over E200 000 in fines, should they be found guilty.