AVOID COURTS OR FACE BAN - DLOMO

MBABANE – They are risking being banned!

These were the words of Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darius Dlomo on the ongoing court cases involving soccer and athletics. The CEO said this during the 2024 Scara Thindwa/KFC Soccer Foundation prize presentation, which was held at the Matsapha Lifestyle Centre, two days ago.

The event was attended by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani Nzima, Minister of Education and Training Senior Acting Sports and Culture Inspector Thandi Nkambule, Eswatini Schools Sports Association (ESSA) President Zakhele Myeni as well as pupils and teachers from the outstanding schools.

The issues Dlomo was referring to include that of Manzini Wanderers, who are battling for their survival in the MTN Premier League. They lodged a protest over Denver Sundowns defender Jimoh Moses, alleging that he had no valid work permit. This was during the hub rivals, relegation six-pointer match, which was played at the Somhlolo National Stadium, on May 19, 2024. The match was won by Sundowns with a 4-2 scoreline.
The teams were hauled before the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Disciplinary Committee (DC), which dismissed them. They then rushed to the EFA Appeals Board, which also dismissed the case in favour of Sundowns.

The maroon and white hub giants ran to court seeking that it reviews the EFA Appeals Board decision; the matter is still pending in court. The other matter is that of Athletics Eswatini (AE), where two clubs are challenging co-option of three executive board members. AE appointed them in July as per a directive by the continental athletics mother body, Confederation of Athletics Associations (CAA).

Dlomo wondered why sports issues were being taken to court yet there are forums that deal with such matters. “The National Tribunal for Sports is not a standing committee like the EFA Appeals Board. It is an ad hoc committee, and its most recent success was resolving the conflict within the Basketball Association of Eswatini,” Dlomo said. He further revealed that associations are free to approach ESRC whenever they are faced with challenges. “We set up a board comprising three lawyers, among its members to hear matters,” the CEO said.

He emphasised that what is happening in local sports will attract unnecessary sanctions from international sports bodies. Meanwhile, the High Court of Eswatini recently ordered that Wanderers be included in the MTN Premier League fixture programme after they successfully challenged the inclusion of Sundowns Skipper Moses in their decisive relegation six-pointer, back in May, this year. The court had technically ordered a 15-team league.

While the matter is sub judice (under judicial consideration and therefore prohibited from public discussion elsewhere), there are reported concerns that the country is skating on thin ice, if  the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) can consider it as third-party influence in football. Through an appeal, both the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) and Moneni Pirates, who are interested parties in the matter, are vigorously opposing Wanderers’ application and further challenge the court’s jurisdiction over the case.

This happens at a time when up to seven countries have been banned by FIFA in almost similar incidents. Some were adjudged to have flouted the global football mother body’s third-party influence principles. Back in 2007, FIFA’s member associations voted for the punishment of any ‘leagues, members of leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials and other association officials’ who take their disputes to ordinary courts of law.

 

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