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EITHER MOZ OR NELSPRUIT FOR SIHLANGU

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MBABANE – Mozambique and South Africa have emerged as the two practical options for the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) to host the forthcoming Sihlangu 2022 AFCON Qualifier against Guinea Bissau.

This follows a decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to ban the use of Mavuso Sports Centre for international matches. As a result, Sihlangu will now be forced to play the game against the West African country either in Nelspruit (South Africa) or Maputo (Mozambique) due to the proximity of these countries to Eswatini. The country’s football mother body was left stunned after receiving communication from CAF that the game in question would not be played at the Mavuso Sports Centre, which was declared not fit to host such matches. This is contained in a letter dated February 27, 2021 forwarded to the EFA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Frederick Mngomezulu by CAF acting General Secretary Abdelmounaim Bah. It states clearly that after receiving the Mavuso report, photo and video evidence, the decision was taken that the country (Eswatini) look for an alternative venue.

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The local squad will square up against the ‘African Wild Dogs’ of Guinea Bissau in match five of the qualifiers on March 23 before travelling to Dakar, Senegal for the last group match against the ‘Teranga Lions’ seven days later. Worth noting is that Sihlangu lost the first leg match against Guinea Bissau 0-3 on November 13, 2019 at the Estadio Nacional 24 de Setembro in Bissau. It has been reliably gathered that the local football authorities are considering using Namachaa Stadium in Maputo or Thulamahashe stadium in Nelspruit for the Sihlangu game. CAF has given the EFA until end of business today (March 3, 2021) to furnish them with the name of the alternative venue. EFA’s Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said it was premature to discuss anything pertaining to this issue for now.

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“The issue is being discussed in relevant structures and there is nothing to report until those talks have been finalised. We would therefore not like to speculate or preempt anything at this stage but once information is ready, it will be made public,” Radebe said. The expectation is that the country’s football mother body will convene a press conference or release a press statement to provide update on the issue of the venue for the Sihlangu game. Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Communications Officer Sibongiseni Zondi said they had been informed of the Mavuso ban by the EFA. “The Ministry has been made aware of the decision by CAF and is already engaging the Eswatini Football Association to find a solution to this challenge,” Zondi said briefly.

CAF mentioned three areas as the reason for denying the country the hosting rights for this game. “The pitch is in very poor condition. Overall pitch condition must be improved and the surface must be levelled, green and marked clearly in white. The current dressing rooms are not up to the required standard. The teams dressing rooms must be of high quality standard with appropriate modern seats and lockers,” reads part of the letter from CAF.

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CAF also highlighted that other facilities in the stadium are not up to the required standard and the stadium needed to be fully modernised such that it is brought up to the international standard requirement. An EFA source said the issue of costs will determine the eventual venue, stating that venues like the Mbombela Stadium, one of the host venues for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, were very expensive for rental. “Mbombela costs close to a million emalangeni for rental especially when it has to do with such international matches. That would be very expensive for us and so we would have to look for cheaper stadiums around Nelspruit, which we can afford as a country. There is also the option of taking the game to Maputo, where there are a number of up-to-standard venues. The executive committee has not yet met to make a final decision but the office of the CEO is busy with the arrangements,” our source confided.

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