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LEOPARD IN E7.7M CAF CONFED BATTLE

25/10/2021 08:33:00 BY NTOKOZO MAGONGO

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MBABANE – Royal Leopard has been handed a second chance to at least rake in about E7.7 million in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The draw for the 2021/22 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup Additional second preliminary round will be conducted at CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt tomorrow starting at 11am. The CAF Confederation Cup additional second preliminary round will see the 16 teams which qualified facing the losing 16 teams from the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League second preliminary round.

The police side dropped to the CAF Confederation Cup after the 3-2 aggregate defeat by Angola’s Grupo Desportivo Sagrada Esperance on Saturday. ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ lost the first leg 3-1 away in Luanda last weekend and won 1-0 at home on Saturday.

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Leopard were due for about E8.4 million for reaching the CAF Champions League group stages. The CAF Champions League is a bigger tournament to the CAF Confederation Cup. It is only Mbabane Swallows who have reached the group stages of both tournaments - CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
The about E7.7 million is for the fourth and third finishers in the group while quarter-finalists of the tournament pocket about E9.1 million with the semi-finalists receiving about 12.2 million. The winners take home about (US$2.5m) E35 million.

Leopard Public Relations Officer (PRO) Frank Hurube said they were not taking the CAF Confederation Cup for granted, but would be all out to impress. He said they were disappointed with the performance against Sagrada, but that was over now and they would focus on the future. “We are now facing a big challenge as a team. The more we continue to play in this tournament, the more it is becoming experience. We were close to making it to the group stages of the Champions League, but it was not the case,” he said.

Leopard have already spent over E1 million as they travelled to Zambia for the first round preliminary and Angola for the second round preliminary. Hurube said the biggest challenge was accommodation, air tickets and meals. “Thanks to the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) and other stakeholders for assisting us financially while we partake in this tournament. This is the last mile and we need everyone’s support,” he added.