BRAVO PLS FOR GIVING ’LANDERS A LIFELINE

My dearest readers ... “The hottest place in hell will be reserved for those who maintain neutrality even on moral issues,” once wrote essayist, Samuel L Jackson.

Jackson could have had the heart-rending Mbabane Highlanders appalling situation in mind when he uttered those immortal and never-to-be-forgotten words. The crisis at the real aristocrats of Swazi football has reached fever pitch, with the team literally grounded and its games having to be postponed.

This follows the stepping down of its Managing Director, Bheki ‘Rubber’ Simelane, heeding advice from last week’s state-of-the-nation address where I implored him to quit and save his life. He did the right thing and should not be ashamed of raising his hand to say ‘I have run out of steam’ and let another person take over. It’s the best decision he has taken in his whole life!

So, as Jackson said, you cannot therefore maintain neutrality in such serious and moral issues that would have adverse effect on the outlook of Swazi football even as a sports journalist worth the tag. Highlanders’ situation called for a quick intervention to rescue such a legendary team from hitting rock bottom again because it is not good for the game. It dents the Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) brand because Highlanders is no ordinary team; it has thousands of supporters and a major contributor to the well-being of Swazi football.

Driven by the words of French writer, Marguerite Duras, I also find myself having to heap praise to the PLS for intervening in the Highlanders problems, even though it is bound to open a can of worms in some quarters who will feel the PLS are living up to George Orwell’s masterpiece novel, ‘Animal Farm’ where ‘some animals are more equal than others’. French writer Duras put it succinctly clear why Yours Truly gives the PLS a thumbs up on their decision. “Journalism without a moral position is impossible. Every journalist is a moralist. It is absolutely unavoidable”.

Sports journalists being human beings too may have their preferred teams but it really hurts to see a team of Highlanders calibre going through a traumatic period, which was going to definitely culminate to another prolonged dance with demotion. We are human too. We love this game and care so much for its branding. It is also no less the duty of the PLS to intervene and try to rescue its members when problems threaten their existence.
For the record, the PLS, under the leadership of businessman, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze, has gone out of its way to assist teams through the loan scheme they formulated and some of the teams are still owing as you read this. Other teams, no need to mention names here (customer confidentiality applies), owe their survival to the PLS, who came to the rescue when internal and financial problems threatened to send them to oblivion.

So why not assist Highlanders when they are in a crisis? Which team can raise its hands to say the PLS has not assisted them before? Maybe four or five teams and the rest owe their livelihood to the PLS.
The PLS has done a commendable thing but it is also a duty of the teams to put their houses in order. The PLS cannot ‘baby-sit’ the teams. The PLS is not Standard Bank that it will always ‘move the teams forward’ when they have administration problems; it is not FNB that all the time, it will ask, ‘how can we help you’ or SwaziBank that it will come to the rescue ‘Nomanini’. It has to grow its brand and financial capacity such that the dream of dishing out grants can be realised. 

Let Highlanders’ case be a lesson to all that mismanagement can actually lead to relegation and even extinction. If it can happen to Highlanders, it can happen to any team. It is not a joke to run a soccer team especially, in the midst of the emotional owners (fans) also having a say of how things should roll.
One hopes that Highlanders will put their house in order and spring back to life. Our football needs Highlanders at their bullish best and most importantly, bravo to the PLS for saving the life-blood of Swazi football!

Gwaza Nkunzi!

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: