IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE: PLE REPORTS ‘WESLIANS’ TO COPS!

MBABANE – The relegation saga involving Manzini Wanderers took a dramatic twist yesterday.

This follows that a long-serving Wanderers official’s reaction to the appeal filed by the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) was interpreted to be a threat. The official was reportedly unhappy by the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Executive Committee’s decision not to fixture the team in the ongoing 2024/25 MTN Premier League season.  The official was reacting to the High Court ruling, which was issued by Judge Mumcy Dlamini, this past Saturday. Dlamini, after hearing the submission of all the parties, ultimately ruled in favour of Wanderers. The court ordered the PLE to fixture Wanderers in the ongoing MTN Premier League season.

The PLE and Eswatini Football Association (EFA) were also ordered to take the necessary steps to normalise the situation. The elite football office (PLE) has appealed the decision and the matter is pending in court. According to a source, after one of the PLE ExCo felt threatened, he immediately informed the other members. The source alleged that the ExCo then reported it to the Mbabane Police Station and the parties were summoned to the cop shop yesterday.

Advised

“The police told them that the issue was above them and they advised that they should approach the Mbabane Magistrate Courts for a peace-binding order,” the source said. Upon reaching the Mbabane Magistrates Court, one of the PLE ExCo members submitted before Principal Magistrate Fikile Nhlabatsi that he received death threats from the maroon and white hub giants’ official, who allegedly said they will deal with them for refusing to fixture their team in league matches. The court did not issue the peace-binding order to the parties, but advised Wanderers to educate their supporters on courts appeals. “The principal magistrate also urged the parties to find peace and wait for the High Court appeal to be concluded,” the source added.

Meanwhile, one of the ExCo members confirmed that they allegedly received death threats from a certain Wanderers official, but did not want to go into details as he referred this reporter to the PLE Acting Chief Executive Officer, (PRO) Pat Vilakati. Vilakati, on the other hand, said he was not at liberty to comment on the issue, as he was invited to the police station just to listen, not to participate in the matter. It is worth mentioning that the PLE filed a notice of appeal after the judgment by Judge Dlamini, on grounds that the court erred in law and in fact by issuing an order not prayed for by any of the parties. Notably, the PLE has also called an extraordinary meeting at Sigwaca House, this afternoon. The Wanderers issue is part of the agenda.



   

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