CALLS TO BAN SIHLANGU INTENSIFY

MBABANE – South Africa’s National Freedom Party (NFP) has joined the growing calls to ban Eswatini from the ongoing 2021 Council of Southern Africa Football Association (COSAFA) Cup.

The games are currently being played in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. In solidarity with the people of Eswatini, the NFP has called upon the South African Football Association (SAFA) to kick out Sihlangu from continuing playing in the 20th edition of the COSAFA Cup, due to the political unrest in the country.

tortured

“The people of Eswatini have been tortured, killed and beaten by army and police officers for calling for political freedom,’’ reads part of the notice. The NFP has, therefore, asked SAFA through its President, Danny Jordan, to consider kicking out Eswatini from COSAFA Cup, while emaSwati are allegedly being killed for their call for political change in the country. “We would recall a major role that the sporting fraternity played during the dark days of South Africa’s fight against the apartheid regime,’’ reads the notice. With that in mind, SAFA must ban the Eswatini national team from participating in the COSAFA Cup, failure to do that would be like selling out emaSwati.

Ban

The ban comes after Sihlangu is performing well in the 2021 COSAFA Cup, having beaten Lesotho in the opening game 3-1, and then lost to South Africa 1-0 in the second game. Eswatini then restored their chances of progressing to the next round by beating Zambia 1-0 on Saturday. Sihlangu now needs a win in their game against Botswana tomorrow to be guaranteed a place in the last four of the 20th edition of the tournament. No immediate comment could be obtained from Eswatini Football Association (EFA), since their Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe is away with Sihlangu in South Africa.

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