FA: ‘SIKHALI’ CLEARED TO PLAY FOR SIHLANGU

MBABANE – He’s all clear to play for the national team, Sihlangu Semnikati.

That is Mbabane Highlanders’ striker Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa, who has been called up to the senior national team by head coach Dominic Kunene. His call up has raised debate among some sectors following his much-publicised two-year suspension from football by the South African Football Association (SAFA). The player and his then GladAfrica Championship side, Mbombela United, were found guilty after he was found to have signed for two teams, being TS Sporting and Mbombela United.

Qualifies

“Sikhali is a registered player with FIFA like all the other players and he qualifies to be called up into the national team if the coaches want him. “He has a FIFA licence to play and would not have got it had there been any challenges,” responded EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe when questioned if they had checked with their South African counterparts the eligibility of the player at national team level. Radebe said any player called up to the squad qualified for it and ‘Sikhali’ has already played two matches. “All procedure was followed when he was registered with FIFA and everything about him is fine. Registration has its strict rules whereby some specific documents are required and here they were all submitted and he got his licence to register and play,” Radebe explained.

appreciation

Ndzinisa has kept his calm about the whole situation, only showing his utmost appreciation to his club boss, Chief Ally Kgomongwe for reviving his career when it looked over for him. However, Kgomongwe went out of his way to sign the player while he had the suspension on his shoulders which was later found to be only effective in South African football. SAFA suspended the player and relegated Mbombela United last September. Ndzinisa signed two years with Highlanders and there is hope he will return to South Africa to play for Kgomongwe’s team as he intends to buy a status in the GladAfrica Championship this season or the next. Meanwhile, Sihlangu is already in camp preparing for the last two group matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2022 Qualifiers on March 26 and March 30 against Guinea Bissau and Senegal respectively.

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