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RELEGATION UNCERTAINTY DERAILING RAIL UNITED

06/10/2021 08:25:00 BY MACHAWE FAKUDZE

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MBABANE – The relegation uncertainty of the four national first division teams has had a negative impact in terms of preparations for the new season.

The four affected teams are namely, Umbelebele, Rail United, Ludzeludze Killers and Sisonke United. EFA made an official announcement last week that there would be no relegation in the second tier of local football this season. The reason was that, regional football remains banned in the country and there were no teams that were to be promoted from the four regions of Eswatini.

Rail United coach Ntokozo Dlamini said EFA made the right decision not to relegate the four teams, but was not happy about the time frame EFA took to make the final decision as this made them have inadequate time to prepare for the upcoming season. “I was very happy to hear that there would be no relegation. This is like being given a second chance in life,” Dlamini said.

He said the uncertainty on the relegation compelled them to start pre-season training very late as they were not sure which direction they would take since regional football was banned. “We were not sure as to where we were going to play because no football is allowed in the regions, but I am happy that almost 90 per cent of my players have returned,” he said.

He went on to say that the preparations were going well so far and they would have friendly games with teams that were yet to be confirmed. “Playing in the first division is tough but enticing to the players as they get to see some places that they had never been before. That’s a motivation on its own,” he said. He further said their mandate last season was to maintain the first division status but things did not go according to plan. “This time around we will try and avoid relegation at all cost then next season will we compete for honours. You will remember that this was our first season in the first division and it was going to be hard for my boys but now that we were given a second chance we won’t repeat the same mistakes that we did the previous season,” he said.

Meanwhile, Umbelebele Public Relations Officer (PRO) Sifiso ‘Fast’ Hlatshwako said it was good news for them to hear that they would not be relegated this season. He said not knowing what was going to be the outcome of the relegation saga in the first division has had challenges for them to start preparations.
“What I can is that we are ready for the start of the league even though we started late in terms of preparations as we were in the dark about what was going to happen. All our boys are back in training and they were active as they were playing some friendly games on they own,” Hlatshwako said.

He also said their main goal this season was to do better than the previous one. “We tried our best last season under the circumstances we were in, I hope that this season we will be a better side,” the former Mbabane Citizens PRO said. He further said that they were still waiting for the PLE to give them the 2021/22 MTN National First Division rules and regulations.