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EFA TO FOOT E1M COVID-19 TESTING BILL

22/03/2021 14:23:00 Themba Zwane

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MBABANE – It is expected that the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) will cater for COVID-19 testing expenses for both the premier league and national first division teams, plus match officials.

The COVID-19 PCR test costs E850 per individual and testing of all premier league and first division players will shoot the expenditure to close to E1 million. Each team, with players close to 30, is expected to need around E25 500 for testing. This means the 16 teams in the elite league will need around E408 000 and first division teams will need around E357 000. The money totals E765 000. This excludes expenses for the testing of match officials such as referees.

Sources

Highly placed sources close to the matter have confided that the EFA executive will meet today to finalise on the entire rollout of the COVID-19 testing programme ahead of the resumption of league games. Worth noting is that the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) has given teams 10 days to prepare for the restart as of Saturday, March 20 and this period will elapse on Monday, March 29. The custodian of top flight football also disclosed that teams were allowed to resume preparations with immediate effect, also stating that after consultation with the EFA, and other stakeholders, they would give more details on the resumption plan early this week. PLE Chairman Mark Carmichael was drawn for comment and said it was a bit premature to divulge anything at this point. He said they expected to soon meet stakeholders, including the government, to finalise the restart plan.

Affected

Sources, on the other hand, highlighted that teams were seriously affected by the spread of COVID-19 which included the PLE office. “Teams do not even have money to pay players. The PLE is also financially crippled as they also rely on a portion of gatetakings, and without games it means they do not have a source of income. The EFA executive will meet tomorrow (today) and pointers are that they will cater for testing expenses of the teams but it will be formally communicated tomorrow (today) at the meeting,” the source confided.

Meanwhile, teams have openly disclosed that they were struggling following the outbreak of the pandemic. Moneni Pirates were reportedly having not paid players’ salaries, while Manzini Wanderers were said to have paid half salaries and Manzini Sea Birds confirming a 70 per cent salary cuts.

Focus

The EFA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu was drawn for comment and said the focus at this point was on the national team, Sihlangu. “We are currently focusing on Sihlangu preparations for their 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers against Guinea Bissau and Senegal,” he said. Mngomezulu said according to his knowledge, the executive will meet as per the EFA calendar which stipulates that the next executive meeting was on March 31.