Mashaba, Sihlangu could be idle for the rest of 2009

Courtesy of Tokyo Cars, Matsapha
 
BLANTRYE - The national team, Sihlangu and its head coach, Ephraem ‘Shakes’ Mashaba, who rakes in a reported E40 000 month salary, might twiddle their thumbs for the rest of the year without kicking a ball, the Times Sunday Sports Desk has gathered.

Following the country being booted out of both Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup 2010 qualifiers, the COSAFA Senior Challenge remains the only tournament for the nation’s pride.
This follows revelations that the COSAFA Senior Challenge is in limbo following South Africa’s Mpumalanga Provincial Govern-ment’s singing a different tune with regards to sponsoring the annual event.

Apparently, the Mpumalanga go-vernment, which sponsored the event last year, has made a U-turn on their earlier commitment to bankroll the tournament for the next three years, citing the global financial meltdown as the main reason.
The sad news threatened to oversh-adow tomorrow’s international friendly game pitting Swaziland and Malawi, which is part of the festivities celebrating the country’s 45 years of Independence. Malawi’s leading newspaper Weekend Nation reported that COSAFA president Seketu Patel this week failed to persuade the province to rescind its decision.

All along Swaziland, represented by First Vice President, Timothy Shon-gwe, who is chairman of the organising committee, had been made to believe it was the date of the tournament that could not be ascertained. The latest decision by the sponsor (Mpum-alanga Provincial government) throws into disarray the tournament, which has enjoyed enormous popularity around the region but failed to gain any foothold in South Africa.

Football Association of Malawi (FAMA) president Walter Nyamilandu, who is also a COSAFA Executive member, have described the decision as a huge blow.
COSAFA Chief Executive officer, Sue Destombes confirmed the latest development when quoted by the Weekend Nation.
“The decision has taken us unawares because they made a commitment to sponsor the tournament for three years. Surprisingly, when we approached them to start preparing the logistics for this year’s event, we were told there are some devel-opments as regards the sponsor-ship,” she said.
Destombes, however, said COS-AFA was still trying its best to persuade the Mpumalanga Provi-nce to honour its pledge.
“Apparently, Mpumalanga Pro-vince has a new premier, David Mabuza, and we are trying to see if we can fix an appointment with him to discuss this issue, but the development has indeed thrown us off-balance,” she said.
She said unfortunately the commitment made by the province was verbal but they were in talks with other sponsors to see if they could get on board.