AS AFCON QUALIFIERS START NEXT MONTH, IT’S: E2.5M MBOMBELA BILL FOR EFA

MBABANE – The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) is gearing up for an epic journey, which comes with a hefty bill.

With the TotalEnergies AFCON Qualifiers on the horizon, the bill of over E2.5 million awaits the EFA. The national team, Sihlangu, are expected to embark on their quest to secure a spot in the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).  The biennial African football tournament, organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), will be hosted by Morocco for the second time next year, starting in December.  The group stage qualifier matches will see each nation playing six matches, comprising three home and three away games. As Eswatini still lacks a CAF-accredited venue, it is expected to play its home games away as usual.

Qualifiers

The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President, Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane, has confirmed that the national team, Sihlangu, qualifiers will be hosted in South Africa (SA). Simelane said Somhlolo was still undergoing renovations and affirmed that the usual ‘home’ Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, would be the country’s AFCON fortress. Notable is that the Phase VI rehabilitations began this week. The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Communications Officer Sibongiseni Zondi, earlier this week said, “It would be difficult to draw up concrete timelines regarding the completion of works under this phase of the rehabilitation.”However, playing in the neighbouring country has not come cheap for EFA. Asked on the possible expenditure for hosting home games in a foreign land, ‘Samora’ revealed the average cost.

Lose

“In the ordinary general assembly we indicated on average, how much we lose by playing games outside,” the Manzini Sea Birds boss said. Our sister publication, Times of Eswatini, last Monday disclosed that they spent E900 000 on average. For three games, that amounts to E2.7 million. The costs are accumulated from various charges. Earlier this year in January, EFA stated the stadium hire stood around E120 000. Additionally, there was E15 000 fee per hour for floodlights. CAF requires that floodlights be lit at least three hours before the game, to ensure they will work during the match, bringing the fee to E45 000. Other costs include team camping, with E150 000 spent on hotels.

There are also costs associated with transporting the national team to and from SA. Sources once revealed EFA spent about E70 000 for each trip, to transport the Sihlangu to and from Port Elizabeth. This was during the recent Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Championship. During the meeting, six days ago, Simelane further said they were, therefore, collaborating with government, as they looked forward for immediate return to hosting of matches at Somhlolo National Stadium.

EFA also accrues more costs with away games. Away games become more expensive, depending on the geographical positions of the opponents. This is usually a result of tickets costs.  Farthest opponents in the qualifiers are Mali and Guinea Bissau. Worth noting is that government’s annual budget for Sihlangu is E5 million. Furthermore, the ongoing facelift at Somhlolo is worth E35 million. The stadium was not included in the list of CAF compliant stadiums’ list published last month.

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