Times Of Swaziland: PLE FACES E1.2M MTN DEDUCTION

PLE FACES E1.2M MTN DEDUCTION
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BY CHRIS DLAMINI on 13/09/2018 03:54:00


MBABANE – The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) finds itself in a catch-22
situation ahead of the much-anticipated MTN Premier League kick-off on Sunday.
The gist of the matter is that the Swazi Mobile-sponsored clubs (now Eswatini
Mobile), giants Mbabane Highlanders and Manzini Wanderers in top flight
football, want to be allowed to don the company’s branded kits in the MTN
League.
“They argue the company is their main sponsor and their agreements with them
call for their kits to have the brand. But then again, MTN has been sponsoring
the league for 15 years and the terms and conditions have always been the same.
It’s always been no competitor brand will be allowed in their tournament. We
can’t have the league held to ransom by a few teams,” said a PLE committee
member on condition of anonymity.
He said the clubs signed into the agreement with Swazi Mobile well aware what
they were getting themselves into.
“MTN’s new sponsorship contract with us has not changed anything in as far
as that clause is concerned. Yes, the late chairman tried to interpret it as
‘technical sponsors’ but it was still argued that, even the World Cup has no
country promoting its technical sponsor. This being an MTN tournament, their
terms prevail,” he said.
He said the organisation would not stand losing its sponsorship or a large
amount of it through something all their affiliates were aware of, for 15 years
now. PLE Chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula admitted they were facing a
headache on this issue.
“The clubs could possibly wear the opposite brand on Sunday and it doesn’t
augur well with all parties. We could lose 20 per cent of the season’s package
which is E1.2 million and that would be chaotic as it would mean a lot of things
changing,” said Magagula. Nonetheless, he said the league’s rules and
regulations covered for such breach should it occur, which they do not expect as
every club signed to play in this league must abide. He said in the event it
happened, the club on the wrong stands to be fined nothing less than E15 000.
The league’s package for this season is E6 million, which covers both First
and elite divisions, with champions of each league pocketing E180 000 and E1
million respectively. If 20 per cent of this amount is deducted, the PLE will be
left with E4.8 million. The money also covers the elite clubs’ E100 000
participation fee while the First Division gets it too but it’s less than
their seniors.
Meanwhile, a PLE Board of Governor has also confirmed the matter was a hot issue
on the table for the PLE and things looked tense. Highlanders and Wanderers were
also sought for comment on this issue which directly affects them and have been
pursuing the PLE to change the situation since last season.
“Yes, we’re still waiting for the rules to be disseminated so we can
familiarise ourselves with the contents. We will take it from there.
The challenge for now is that even the vendor for branding our kits with PLE and
MTN logos has not been announced, so it’s still uncertain if we will use new
kits or not,” responded Wanderers CEO Pat Mahlalela when questioned if they
would indeed be wearing the Swazi Mobile-branded kit and if they were mindful of
the consequences.
His Highlanders counterpart Mpumelelo Msibi, who is the club’s Management
Committee (MC) Secretary, said only the team’s directors could respond to
this. Highlanders’ Chairman of the Board of Directors Zweli Jele, who was
caught in a Board meeting  responded; ‘‘We have sent a formal communiqué to
PLE advising that we will use the Eswatini Mobile kit.’’ MTN Eswatini’s
Meshack Maseko said ‘all teams play the league under guidance from rules and
regulations’ from the PLE.
“I think the rules should give clear guidance on this issue and the PLE office
is in a good space to comment as they are the custodians of the league and rules
and regulations governing it,” he said.
Highlanders open the league against capital city rivals and defending champions
Mbabane Swallows, while Wanderers face Green Mamba on Sunday at Somhlolo
National Stadium. Meanwhile, Swazi Mobile also sponsors Madlenya FC and Tinyosi
in the First Division League.
Impeccable sources have said another giant team in the capital city was set to
join its counterparts in the Swazi Mobile sponsorship but officials in the team
have said until it was all signed out, they had no comment.