PLE WON’T BAIL OUT TEAMS WITH LOAN SCHEME

MBABANE – Due to suspension of the football season, teams might as well forget about any bailout in terms of loans from the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE).

According to Chairman Peter ‘Touch’ Magagula, the association generates income from gate-takings in order to offer teams loans.
The PLE offer loans to teams after having forwarded requests when struggling and this is money the teams are expected to pay back as per the parties’ agreement terms.

Having announced a two months break for the league, this means that the PLE will not be generating much income.
Consequently, the PLE will not be able to offer any assistance to teams that will be seeking help in terms of loans.
This is despite reports carried by this publication that elite teams were struggling as their owners or administrators lost around E200 000.
A huge chunk of the money is used for payment of players’ salaries and other expenses such as rentals and administration costs.
The chairman, during the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Service (EBIS)’s Sports Show yesterday said it would be hard to assist teams as they had a tight budget.

questions

When he was drawn for comment, Magagula politely referred all questions to the PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati as he said he (Magagula) was held up in meetings.
Vilakati said they had other sources of income that sustained the office financially but highlighted that they received 20 per cent of gate-takings as revenue from games played.

“The 20 per cent is the money that is strictly reserved or allocated for helping teams in terms of providing loans. In terms of assisting teams, it is true that we are on a very tight budget as there are currently no games,” said Vilakati.
However, the COO explained that the office of the PLE would continue to function as they did even during the off season.

“There will be a restricted budget because it is more like we have had the off season twice. This, however, should be a learning curve for all as it has taught us that we must have teams and organisational marketing teams that will ensure there are financial reserves to sustain office for maybe a year,” he said.
Vilakati added that it was true that there were teams who had borrowed money in the form of loans from PLE before football shutdown.

“We gave 60 to 80 per cent of the teams who requested the loans because they tabled logical payment plans while the office was not satisfied with the other teams’ payment plans,” he said.
Vilakati noted that the teams could not therefore pay as there were currently no games and as a result the PLE’s budget was unsustainable.

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