MBABANE — September has come and gone without the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) naming a new Sihlangu head coach, missing its self-imposed deadline once again.
Speaking in the House of Senate through the Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, Bongani Nzima, the EFA stated that Zdravko ‘Loga’ Logarušić’s successor would be named by the end of last month.
This commitment was made during the ministry’s first-quarter performance report debate on August 11, where several senators questioned when the head coach would be hired.
Nzima replied that an appointment was expected by the end of September as the recruitment process was ongoing.
That deadline has now passed without any official announcement. Today marks the 374th day since the EFA announced a mutual agreement to part ways with Logarušić, despite two months remaining on his contract.
In that same statement, the association appointed Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane as interim head coach, assisted by Ernest Mavuso. The technical duo remained at the helm in March for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifiers against Eritrea.
However, Eswatini suffered an embarrassing 4-1 aggregate defeat against an Eritrean side returning to international football after almost a decade. ‘Nuro’ and Mavuso subsequently vacated their positions.
Following that exit, the EFA advertised the Sihlangu post in April, with applications closing in May. During that period, the national team was scheduled to compete in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Senior Men’s Championship.
Manzini Sea Birds coach Friday Myeni was among those shortlisted to lead Sihlangu on an interim basis pending a permanent appointment. The COSAFA Cup was eventually cancelled, and the EFA promised to name a new coach by the end of July, which was a deadline later revised to September.
Neither target has been met.
The prolonged vacancy has left Sihlangu without competitive action, even during this current FIFA international break.
EFA Marketing and Communications Manager Muzi ‘Rhoo’ Radebe maintained that the recruitment process remains a work in progress.
Radebe indicated that the relevant authorities are still finalising the process and that the coach will be unveiled once matters are concluded. He also partly attributed the delay to the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu expressed confidence in mid-September that the deadline would be met, speaking after the Under-20 team’s send-off for the COSAFA Cup in Mozambique.
Meanwhile, prolonged gaps usually stem from administrative challenges, financial constraints or internal disagreements within a football association.
In some cases, federations struggle to meet the salary expectations of experienced coaches, while newly-elected boards sometimes prefer to restart the process entirely.
For instance, South Africa replaced Bafana Bafana’s Hugo Broos, who left after the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup that ended in July, with Pitso Mosimane.
Leave a comment