IN LIMBO

MBABANE – With each passing day, the MTN Premier League kick-off this weekend remains a major doubt.

With four days remaining before kick-off, the teams are not ready as eight teams remain unregistered, while negotiations between the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) and the league sponsors, MTN Eswatini, have not been concluded. Moreover, the teams are yet to receive the important rules and regulations of the competition.

The PLE announced that they will start the 2021/22 season on October 23. What also throws the league start into doubt is the absence of the defending champions, Royal Leopard, who will be playing their second leg match of the CAF Champions League against Angola’s Segrada Esperance at Mavuso Sports Centre on Saturday.

fixture

Leopard, according to the master fixture, is due to start the defence of their league title against Mbabane Swallows. Majority of teams abandoned training last week amid the political unrest with three days to prepare if they are to play over the weekend. Initially, the league was scheduled for October 8, but it was postponed to this Saturday. A source close to the matter confirmed that it was impossible for the PLE to sanction the start of the league as there were lot of loose ends that needed to be tied.

“Some of the teams have not registered and they failed to vaccinate last week. Another challenge is the COVID-19 tests, as the PLE is awaiting the EFA to avail the funds before the kick-off,” said the source close to the matter.

adamant

However, the PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO), Pat Vilakati, was adamant that there was nothing that had changed concerning the start of the league. He said they would communicate with teams if there were any changes. The source added that the ongoing political unrest in the country is also throwing the start in jeopardy. He said if the situation continued, it won’t be easy for the teams to travel around the country as that could put their lives in danger. “Some teams hire public transport for their day-to-day errands and at the moment it is impossible as the transport industry is on strike,” said the source.

Mbabane Highlanders Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mandla Madonsela said the team had not attended training since last week due to the ongoing political unrest being experienced around the country. Madonsela said there was nothing they could do once the PLE had released the fixture. “This is going to be a big challenge as we had inadequate time to prepare for the start of the league, but if the fixture is released, we are going to honour the game,” he said. He also lamented the fact that the players were not in the right shape to play a competitive game due to the abandonment of training last week and this week.

ready

Meanwhile, Denver Sundowns Communications Officer Thabiso ‘Touch’ Manyatsi said they were ready for the games even though they had trained for two days last week. “We are ready for the start of the league as we are back at training today,” Manyatsi said. He said what was left for them was few touch-ups otherwise they would honour the game if the fixture is released. 

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