OVER E170 000 FINE FOR COACH ATTACK!

MBABANE – Red and white capital city giants, Mbabane Swallows are in trouble following this past Sunday’s dramatic scenes.

This was after one of their supporters attacked Head Coach Caleb Ngwenya with a small container, while another section camped for him in one of the exits at Mavuso Sports Centre. The coach was able to escape to safety. The supporters were frustrated by the 4-2 loss to defending champions Royal Leopard, which confirmed that their side would not return to continental football again this season. Had Swallows beaten Ingwe Mabalabala, their chances of representing the country in the 2023/24 TotalEnergies CAF Confederations Cup would have been enhanced, as second-placed Young Buffaloes played to a 1-all draw with rookies Madlenya.

Wrath

The action of the Umkhonto KaShaka supporters might attract the wrath of the Thulani Sibandze-chaired Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC). The misconduct is in contravention of the 2022/23 MTN Premier League Rules and Regulations. Should the match officials reports implicate the supporters and the team be hauled before the DC,  they stand to be charged for contravening six Articles of the rules and face a fine of over E170 000. The Caleb Ngwenya-led side, by such behaviour, has contravened  sections under Article 10 of the rules. These are Articles 10.6.2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

According to Article 10.6.2, the rules state clearly that threatening by conduct or words to assault or attempt to assault a referee, PLE official, player, club official, steward, supporter, fan, spectator- a minimum fine of E10 000 and a maximum fine of E30 000. In addition, the offending club shall be ordered to compensate the victim for any financial, medical and any other costs incurred due to the assault by the DC. This rule will be applied in the sense that the fans or supporters waited for Ngwenya by the tunnels and on the exit gate with intent to attack him.  On the other hand Article 10.6.3 states that assaulting a referee, PLE official, player, club official, steward, supporter, fan, spectator or the use of excessive force shall be punished with a fine of not less than E50 000 by the DC.

In addition, the offending club shall be ordered to compensate the victim for any financial, medical and any other loss incurred due to the assault. This rule will be applied because one of the team’s supporter hit the coach with a container. The club supporters also shouted at the coach unprintable words and Article10.6.4 will be applied, which states that, uttering abusive and/or obscene and/or derogatory words, spitting or emission of saliva onto any person or directed towards a person the offender shall be fined a minimum of E25 000 by the DC.
This also includes players and/or team Official(s) where such player(s) and/or team official(s) incite fans, opposing players and officials, etc.

Meanwhile, the supporter’s conduct might have incited some of his colleagues to attack Ngwenya and such is stated in Article 10.6.5, which says the use of provocative or insulting gestures or signals, unbecoming behaviour or conspiracy or attempt to act to bring football into disrepute or inciting people to behave in a manner that brings the game of football into disrepute, the offending club shall be fined a minimum of E20 000 by the DC. The other Article the team could be charged with is 10.6.6, which states that throwing objects of any kind onto the field of play and/or its surroundings or unto any person(s)thus assaulting or attempting to assault and invading the field of play the offender shall be fined a fine of not less than E20 000 by the DC. Finally the team might be charged using Article 10.6.7 for failure to control their fan(s), supporter(s) and this carries a fine not less than E25 000. In a nutshell, should  the be hauled before DC Chairman Thulani Sibandze, they stand to be fined E170 000.

Hauled

It is worth mentioning  that it is not the first time for the team to appear before the DC as they were once hauled before it after the commotion, which erupted at the Mavuso Sports Centre on December 17, 2022 during the Mbabane derby where a portion of their supporters invaded the pitch in pursuit of referee Thembinkosi Dlamini after he ruled against a goal by Felix Badenhorst in which they eventually lost the match 2-1. They were fined E70 000 by the DC and further ordered to play two fixtures behind closed doors. The team’s General Manager (GM) Sandile ‘Beyond 2000’ Zwane was on national radio, the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS 1) Sports Show yesterday. He called for calmness from the supporters.

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