ESWATINI SPORT AND RECREATION COUNCIL CEO’S TOUGH CALL ... STOP SPORTS ON SUNDAY OR PLAY LATE – DARIUS

MBABANE – Keep the Sabbath day holy.

This is a line relevant to the call made by Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council’s (ESRC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darius Dlomo. Having been one of the dignified speakers during the unveiling of Team Eswatini Region 5 squad on Thursday morning at Mountain Inn, Dlomo made the startling appeal to sporting associations.

Refrain

“I just want to make a call to our sports associations that where possible, let us refrain from scheduling activities on Sunday. “Let us try to have a bulk of our activities on Saturday or late on Sunday afternoon. “We can’t as a sports fraternity be perpetuating a population of physical muscles but one that is without spiritual connection with their Creator.”

“This is a call also to EFA that uses Sundays, to ensure most of the fixtures at least start at 3 or 2pm on Sundays,” Dlomo said, while he confused Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) with the Eswatini Football Association (EFA). The CEO’s call is unique to Eswatini, but he is not the first to make such a call as it has happened in other countries. It was also implemented in some parts of the world but for Eswatini, it would mean a change of kick-off times for the MTN Premier League, National First Division (NFD) League, Women Football League (WFL), pool, golf and tennis tournaments, among disciplines that have hosted games or events on Sundays from before 2 and 3pm.

Some of these associations were reached for comment on this appeal by the CEO. Some reacted positively to it while some had their concerns. One of the associations representative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some of them used Saturdays as their Sabbath which would then present a challenge for them too. Eswatini Cue Sports Association (ECSA) Secretary Mbongeni ‘Mdlikiza’ Gamedze said it was possible to manage the time of their events in the manner the CEO wants to.

“The only challenge though would be playing venues to run our tournaments smoothly without a backlog or late games, as on Saturdays we start at 2pm to 5pm, then that would mean us starting Sunday fixtures soon after. If we play on Sundays after 2pm instead of the 1pm we use now, then teams may have transport challenges for their players,” he said. However, he said it was something they could sit and discuss with their members as church was also very important. In football, one of the security forces officials said playing early fixtures was part of their safety measures, especially under the current political instability.

Spiritual

“We understand the spiritual connection and it’s important, but our safety is also important so I’d say early fixtures can work better for us on any day,” the official said. Another from the security forces teams said there was nothing weird about hosting events on any day and time but their safety must always come first. The PLE asked not to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, as earlier mentioned that Dlomo was not the first around the globe to make such a call about sports and Sundays, some countries have sanctioned sports activities on this day except for those attached to certain terms and conditions.

Prior to 2008, no football was permitted to be played on Sundays by clubs affiliated to the Irish Football Association (IFA) in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, Jordan Archbishop Allen Vigneron also banned sports games and practices on Sundays in Catholic schools in 2019, after parents complained about having to split their families between multiple games and church practices.

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