‘BEYOND 2000’ CALLS FOR CALM

MBABANE – “Supporters should refrain from attacking coaches and players; the challenge is with management.”

This was said by Mbabane Swallows General Manager (GM) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane when addressing the team’s supporters on national radio, the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS 1) Sports Show hosted by Siphesihle ‘Sihlabani’ Nxumalo, yesterday.

Incident

Zwane was talking about the incident which happened at the Mavuso Sports Centre on Sunday, after the MTN Premier League match against defending champions Royal Leopard. Ingwe Mabalabala ‘mauled’ Swallows 4-2 and this result made the supporters furious as they bayed for Head Coach Caleb Ngwenya’s blood. The result confirmed that Umkhonto KaShaka will not be returning to continental football again this season. One of the supporters hit the coach with a container, while making his way into the tunnels in frustration and some fans waited for him by the exit gate from the dressing rooms; however, Ngwenya was taken to safety by security personnel using another exit. The former national team Sihlangu manager revealed that the challenge was neither with the coach nor the players but it was with them as management of the team. He said if anyone wanted to address his or her disappointment, their door was wide open to address him or her. “I would like, on behalf of the team’s management, to apologise on what happened yesterday; it was not the coach’s problem or the players; it is with us,” Zwane said.

Address

‘Beyond 2000’ said the supporters should calm down as the management would address the issue in a meeting, as losing games at this stage of the league was not new to the team. “We will definitely go to a meeting as this is now a norm; you will remember that for the past three seasons, when we are about to get something, such a thing strikes, ,” he said. He further assured the supporters that the coach and the players had done nothing wrong in as far as the performance of the team was concerned. Meanwhile, Coach Ngwenya blamed the defeat on being slow and sloppy. “It’s not the result we wanted. We conceded soft goals,” he said.

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