MBABANE – The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs has rewarded athletes who excelled in international competitions with podium performance incentives amounting to over E250 000.
The incentives were officially handed over yesterday at the ministry’s offices in Mbabane to athletes, who delivered medal-winning performances in continental competitions.
Sporting codes that benefitted include taekwondo, netball and football, with taekwondo emerging as the biggest beneficiary following a dominant showing at the African Taekwondo Open Series Zone VI.
Introducing the programme, Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council (ESRC) Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Darius Dlomo said the initiative was part of a broader vision to build sustainable sporting success, starting from schools competitions such as the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Schools Under-15 Championship.
“We are planting seeds today with the hope that in the next six years, Eswatini will reap meaningful gold medals with the senior men soccer team at international level,” said Dlomo.
Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima said government was proud to reward athletes who raised the national flag high.
“As a ministry, we are happy to reward athletes who shine outside the country. Government always makes resources available to recognise excellence, and we hope these incentives will inspire others to work harder and aim higher,” said Nzima.
Dlomo said the council would review the incentives framework to ensure fairness between individual and team sports. “We assess results carefully. Going forward, we want minimum competitive benchmarks to be met, especially in individual sports, to ensure incentives are awarded based on meaningful competition,” said Dlomo.
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