SALARY VIRUS HITS TEAMS!

MBABANE – The financial effects of the life-crippling COVID -19 global pandemic are now being felt by most local premier league teams.

Independent investigations by this publication yesterday uncovered that most of the elite league teams are now finding it difficult to pay salaries for their players due to the fact that all football activities are currently on indefinite suspension throughout the world as means to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This has left teams with relatively no financial income and by extension, this is now hitting hard on the payment of players’ salaries.

It is however worth noting that the issue of salaries is a world-wide challenge for most football teams including those playing in more professional leagues like Spain where Barcelona FC players publicly supported pay cuts in view of the financial challenges faced by clubs.

Locally, it is a similar scenario as most teams are running from pillar to post in trying to balance their salary budgets. As a result, salary cuts have been effected by most teams and Mbabane Highlanders yesterday confirmed a 50 per cent cut for April salaries while players from Manzini Wanderers and Moneni Pirates are still waiting to be paid. Manzini Sea Birds agreed with their players to effect a 30 per cent salary cut while Mhlume Peacemakers have taken the Highlanders’ route and effected 50 percent cut.

Highlanders Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Melusi Dlamini asserted to this newspaper yesterday that players were complaining to him about salary cuts but admitted that he was yet to touch base with the team’s Managing Director (MD), Ally Kgomongwe, on the issue.

Kgomongwe was contacted and his explanation was that players were addressed on the issue of pay cuts but promised that things would return to normal after the lockdown.  “They (players) will get 50 per cent salaries until the lockdown is lifted. There is no way we can afford to give players full pay during such hard times ,” the Pretoria based businessman explained.
At Wanderers, the situation has not changed as far as salaries are concerned because players have now not been paid for the past two months including April, as confirmed by the team’s CEO Pat Mahlalela yesterday.

“As you know that Wanderers were surviving on gate takings, we are on our knees now with this lockdown. The truth is that we are unable to pay our players and appealing to potential sponsors to assist where possible,” Mahlalela urged. Meanwhile, Peacemakers Public Relations Officer (PRO) Bheka Magagula also briefly confirmed that their players’ salaries would be 50 per cent less until the lockdown is declared over.

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Efforts to get a comment from Manzini Sea Birds. who have reportedly agreed to pay their players 70 percent of their salaries, failed at the time of compiling this report last night.
Sources at Moneni Pirates confided that players were yet to be paid their salaries for April and this was confirmed by a senior player in the team. Pirates’ publicist Mlungisi Simelane could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone rang unanswered several times yesterday.

At Denver Sundowns, the players are said to have received food parcels worth close to E800 and are expected to get their April salaries next Tuesday. The team’s CEO, Elvis Dube, confirmed the news yesterday.  “They (players) will get their salaries next week as per the norm and the food hampers are meant to help sustain them during this lockdown.

We had to give them food parcels to make it easier for them as the latest lockdown measures require permission for anybody to travel,” he said.
It could not be immediately ascertained if Mbabane Swallows’ players were given their April salaries at the time of going to print.

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