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‘BULL’ TO GET E0.00 IN PRIZE MONEY

28/03/2014 03:22:00 BY ASHMOND NZIMA

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MBABANE – Mbabane Highlanders may soon be returning to the Premier League but they have no reason to be merry.

The Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) is demanding E168 740.07 from the National First Division League champions-elect in respect of fines and other outstanding fees. A lion’s share of the owed fees amounting to E112 240.07 is for a loan from the scheme launched by the PLS in June last year, while E56 500 is for fines and match officials’ fees.

The outfit, in a letter dated March 25, 2014, which this newspaper has in its possession, was instructed to pay the total amount within 21 days. The debt incurred before the new structure at the team was put in place is more than the E60 000 prize money Highlanders stand to get for winning the league in the lower division. The team could also forfeit the E50 000 for reaching the semi-finals of the SwaziBank cup.

“You are kindly advised to settle these amounts from the date of receipt of this notification, failing which these debts will be deducted from any amounts that will be due to your club,” reads the letter in part. Team General Manager (GM), Andrew Mamba, in a press briefing at BPL offices in Mbabane yesterday, said the team was baffled by the debt as they were only informed about it this week. He said his office would seek answers from the PLS office as well as ask for the financial statement. “We still don’t understand why the issue has just been raised,” he said.

cer (COO) John Mazibuko said a lot of teams were in the red and outstanding amounts were over E1 million. “Only few teams are off the hook and the affected sides have all been furnished with letters.

I’m not in office today as I’m not feeling well (yesterday), so I can’t confirm the exact figures,” Mazibuko said. The total money for the scheme was E3 million. It was supposed to run for three years and E700 000 was injected in the first year. Teams with the biggest fan base, that include Highlanders, were able to access up to E150 000. The money was to be returned with 10 percent interest. The PLS eventually stopped the initiative before the start of the current season as teams did not come to the party.

Meanwhile, Highlanders had called the press briefing after dominating headlines for the wrong reasons since the beginning this year. They were slapped with nine charges this year.

This week they were instructed to pay a summary fine of E15 000 after fans were adjudged to have invaded the pitch in celebrating Royal Leopard’s 2-0 win over Mbabane Swallows in a SwaziBank Cup semi-final match last Sunday.

A bigger share of the summary fine, which was at E10 000, was for fans who reportedly threw chicken eggs into the field of play before the quarter-final fixture against Moneni Pirates about a fortnight ago. GM Mamba said they were disturbed by the countless incidents but highlighted that some were not justified.

Supporters Chairman Kenneth Dlamini, who was also at the briefing, announced that unnamed officials who were implicated for starting fire at Somhlolo National Stadium would be put on ice pending investigations in the matter. It also transpired that Highlanders were contemplating stopping their supporters from watching other teams to avoid the unnecessary fines.