PROCRASTINATION THE THIEF OF TIME

My dearest readers ...

If my father were a member of the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Competitions Committee I would swiftly apply for a change of surname. I wouldn’t want to be associated with a committee that is indecisive on a very critical issue of our football – the National First Division league, which by its intent and purpose, is supposed to be the ‘developmental league’ of our wacky world of football. The committee has its work cut out after the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) found itself caught between a rock and a hard place with regards to the money-draining MTN National First Division League.

Granted, the National First Division league is a well known orphaned vulnerable adult (OVA) of our football. Nobody really wants it. The EFA treats it like a foster child; the PLE only recognises it entirely when they need bargaining power to the sponsors or when they need the occasional crumbs of the FIFA grants from the mother body and of course, when it is election time for those priceless votes. The story of the National First Division league is a painful one. It can be likened to the downtrodden and unemployed youth in this country. It is not surprising that almost two months after the season ended, we are still not sure what will happen to the four relegated National First Division league teams and how the league will shape up in the new 2021/2022 season. This can only happen in Eswatini.

direction

The EFA Competitions Competition has not given us any direction and in a typical case of finger-pointing, we have all been left blind. The saddest thing is that as the left hand continues not to know what the right hand is doing at Sigwaca House, it is football that is bearing the brunt. The existence of some of the teams, especially the relegated ones, sadly, is not guaranteed. The four teams, as it is, are hanging in the air. No football was played in the Super league in the past 2020/2021 season which created the huge challenge we are in. It is an unforeseen scenario or force majeure but still our football authorities were not proactive in dealing with the challenge.

When the MTN Premier League was halted in early January for three months, they should have realised we would have a huge challenge in our hands with regard to the promotion and relegation in the first division league as super league teams around the country were suspended due to the COVID-19 regulations by government. But then it was the EFA election year. Some people did not want to step on the toes of the voting affiliates. Therein lies the rub. The relegation issue was swept under the carpet. If this newspaper had not raised the issue of the rules and regulations irrationally indicating that three teams would be relegated from the premier league and two promoted from the first division leaving us with the rare possibility of a 15-team league in the new season, they wouldn’t have been any addendum on the rules and regulations. How the Competitions Committee in its own infinite wisdom envisaged a 15-team league is beyond me. That’s why I am not surprised we find ourselves with the National First Division relegation conundrum almost two months after the season ended.

challenge

My green flies on the Sigwaca House wall tell me, the PLE actually realised the challenge and suggested, in a letter to the EFA, that there should not be any relegation in the first division league as there would be no super league representatives joining the national first division league. The EFA has not responded or at least given football the direction it needs on this critical issue. As it is, the four teams who were relegated from the first division namely, Umbelebele, Ludzeludze Killers, Rail United and Sisonkhe are hanging in the air. Why is the EFA not addressing the issue once and for all? Already, the PLE has held workshops empowering the first division teams – the 10 of them remaining – on the requirements of the CAF Club Licensing. What about the four others teams even if they are to come from the regions who were inactive for a whole season? What criterion is the EFA going to apply to ensure fairness and integrity on those who will join the National First Division league? All these questions keep popping up because the EFA is pussy-footing around the issue when they should be giving us direction. EFA president Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane should realise by now that some of the committees seriously need to be called to account for their decisions or lack thereof. We wouldn’t be in this dilemma if the Competitions Committee for instance, had been proactive and addressed the relegation conundrum well on time. What happens next?

relegate

Methinks, the PLE was not wrong to relegate the four teams as per the rules of the competition and now the EFA has to swallow its pride and enforce the suggestion of the PLE to recall the four teams, Sisonkhe, Umbelebele, Rail United and Ludzeludze Killers and let the National First Division remain a 14-team league. God forbid, if the regional football is again not played this season, the EFA needs to be proactive and find a way to include in the rules and regulations what will happen at the end of this season. Leaving things for interpretation long after the season has ended is not good for anyone. As things stand, the only logical thing to do now is to recall the four teams and let the National First Division league starts like the premier league one. What did essayist Richard Harkness say about a committee? “A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary!” Need I say more?

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