LEOPARD OWED E2.1 MILLION

MBABANE – After more than six months, Eswatini CAF Champions League envoys Royal Leopard have not received their CAF prizes.

Leopard reached the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup, but failed to win even a single match. However, despite not winning a match they were already guaranteed E4.2 million participation fee for reaching the group stages. The police ensemble were grouped alongside South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, who were finalists in the previous edition of the TOTALEnergies-sponsored tournament.

According to sources close to the matter, the Ingwe Mabalabala were struggling with air ticket fees,with CAF still to release their funds. CAF, according to impeccable sources close to the side, Leopard last received E2.1 million just before their second leg game against Orlando Pirates, where they lost 3-0. They played this game on March 13, 2022. After that, the police ensemble have been asking the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to pay the balance of E2.1 million, but up to this day they have not received the balance. The Times Sports Desk has been made to understand that Leopard have even struggled to pay for their recent trip to Madagascar which cost about E550 000. They had to make a commitment to a company assisting them with air tickets to book the tickets on their behalf.

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They have recently paid the balance of E550 000 after their trip to Madagascar. Leopard played CFFA on September 11 where they won 3-2 to set up a date against Coton Sport of Cameroon. They played a 1-all draw against the latter on Sunday at Mavuso Sports Centre. This publication got to learn about Leopard’s predicament when trying to ascertain their logistics for the Cameroon trip which was expected to be undertaken last night. This trip alone, it was reliably gathered, would cost around E700 000. According to a source close to the club, they need E600 000 for their trip to Cameroon and upon arrival in the north African country, they would need about E130 000 for local flights to the nearby local venue.

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Leopard have been trying to pull all the stops to get funds for the trip but to no avail. Reached for comment, Leopard Manager Richard ‘Danka’ Fakudze wondered where the publication got the information from. “We are surprised that this issue has leaked to the media. There is no denying that we are owed E2.1 million by CAF and it has been difficult to pay our travelling fees to CAF competitions,” said Fakudze. When asked if CAF had made commitments or set a date when they would receive the balance of E2.1 million, he said: “They have not told us when we will receive the money and it is worrying because we are struggling and we desperately need financial aid. We have written to Eswatini Football Association about this issue because we cannot talk directly to CAF. EFA told us they were awaiting a response from CAF,” said the Leopard official.

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Asked what the way forward was, he said they had asked EFA to at least book flights on their behalf. Reached for comment, EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said they could not comment as an organisation. “You can get correspondence from CAF and we cannot comment on the issue you are talking about,” said Radebe. Efforts to get comments from CAF proved futile as they were not reached immediately. An email was further also not responded to by the time of compiling this report at 7pm last night. Leopard were supposed to leave the country yesterday for Cameroon. According to sources close to the club, they might not leave if the flights issues are not sorted. By the time of compiling this report late last night, they were still in the country.

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