PLE BEGINS TALKS WITH KO SPONSORS

MBABANE – The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) is confident of having more than just the MTN Premier League this season.

After playing the whole of last season without a knockout tournament but the league due to COVID-19, which took away fans from the stadiums, yet the knockout sponsors like Swazi Telecom, EswatiniBank Cup and Ingwenyama Cup by Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (SMVAF) wanted spectatorship to get their returns too through marketing their products. PLE Chairman Mark Carmichael has said there is hope now. “With the return of the regional super leagues, there’s hope that football will get better and we’ve already started talks with our knockouts sponsors as we can see progress. It’s been a tough transition for us in the one and a half years in office as we came in the trying times of COVID-19, but we’ve also tried our best to put working policies in place to help run the product professionally,” Carmichael said.

He said they were hopeful that all the super leagues would soon be playing, but some like the Lubombo Super League had kicked off under Swazi-Trac sponsorship.  However, he would not come out clearly to say whether they were talking to EswatiniBank, Swazi Telecom or SMVAF. However, speculation was rife that the EswatiniBank Cup was the most likely knockout tournament to return this season, while for the Charity Cup, a special request would have to be approved by government to raise the target, which is usually E1 million. However, the request would be necessary if by then, government has not changed the current spectatorship restrictions. The Charity Cup benefits the underprivileged, which is why it needs huge spectatorship and the availability of the currently under renovation Somhlolo National Stadium.

“It won’t be long before government avails the stadium as work continues there,” he said. Carmichael also said the PLE was on the verge of launching its partnership with South Africa’s pay per view channel SuperSport. They were also present during the capital derby between Mbabane Highlanders and Mbabane Swallows last Sunday to take some clips in preparation of a monthly PLE Show. Meanwhile, PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO) Pat Vilakati said they had always kept in touch with their sponsors and the return of the regional football was exciting news to them because some of the knockouts involved regional teams.

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