LUCKY DOMINIC!

MBABANE – Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.

True to William Shakespeare’s quote, Sihlangu national team coach Dominic Kunene could be one of those born great as he is likely to take home an annual salary of E360 000 for doing nothing, if the coronavirus crisis continues unabated.

The coach was announced early in January as head coach of the nation’s pride and is reportedly taking home a salary of E30 000 on a monthly basis. With the coronavirus forcing the postponement of games, the national team coach and his technical bench have already been paid three months salary for doing almost nothing so far.

The coache’s first major assignment was an away Group I Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Congo in the last month. The squad had been in camp for barely a week when the game was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed over 50 000 lives worldwide.

losing

Sihlangu started the 2021 AFCON qualifiers on a low note after losing their two opening games last year. They lost 0-3 and 1-4 to Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, in that order and Serbian mentor Kostadin Papic was in charge.

Another major assignment was that of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), which is highly likely to be postponed following the pandemic outbreak. The tournament is supposed to be held in Durban, South Africa from June 13-27.

Next on the national team’s calendar was the AFCON qualifiers home game against Guinea-Bissau which was scheduled in early June. However, FIFA has recommended that those games should be postponed.

Also on Dominic’s plate was another AFCON qualifiers away clash to Senegal which was billed for September.
The Government of Eswatini through Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini issued a partial lockdown a week ago. All football activities have been banned until further notice.

FIFA recently recommended that players have to consider taking salary cuts as they are currently doing nothing. Teams like Manchester United, Juventus and Barcelona had already offered the salary cuts to it’s players and staff.

England national team coach Gareth Southgate was reportedly to take a 30 per cent salary cuts among other top football managers.
Kunene politely asked not to comment on the issue when contacted last night.

Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said the issue was between the coach and the association.
“I cannot comment on that because it is an administrative issue,” said Radebe briefly.

Sources close to the matter said even if the coach did not have a competitive game due to the coronavirus pandemic he and his technical bench would be paid in full as their one-year contract  did not include issues like coronavirus. The technical bench includes Gcina ‘Magiyane’ Dlamini, who is an assistant coach, goalkeeper coach Anthony Mdluli and trainer Mbuso Gina. The trio are reportedly taking home E20 000 each as monthly salaries.

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