Africa-Press – Eswatini. Half a loaf is better than nothing, as E1 million is the sponsorship package for the PLE Trade Fair Cup 2023 – it’s E300 000 for the champions.
Just three days ago the revered knockout for elite teams was confirmed off for this year’s Eswatini International Trade Fair (EITF) by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo, but it on Thursday news filtered in that the cup is back on. Khumalo had cited the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) to have reported that they did not reach an agreement with their potential sponsor. Our sister publication reported on Wednesday that the tournament was off after a press conference by the minister and again reported yesterday that it was expected to be announced back yesterday.
As per yesterday’s report, the PLE held a press conference ahead of yet another special meeting with teams in the afternoon, where it confirmed the reports – the Trade Fair Cup 2023 goes ahead. Taking part in the press conference which doubled as a launch was Eswatini Investments Promotion Authority (EIPA) Head of Trade Bongani Ntshangase, Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Executive Committee Member Comfort Shongwe, who stood in for the association, EFA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu and some members of the PLE Executive Committee as well the PLE CEO Kenneth Makhanya. PLE Executive Member Charles Matsebula disclosed that only the premier league teams would battle in the E1 million knockout, which is penned to kick off on September 3-10, but the Trade Fair itself will end two days later.
Revive
“The PLE met and took the decision to revive the Trade Fair Cup. We hope to host it annually. We urge supporters to show great sportsmanship by sharing seats in the duration of the tournament. This year’s sponsorship is in the tune of E1 million,” the Pigg’s Peak Black Swallows Chairperson explained. He also said their doors were wide open for prospective companies to partner with the PLE in implementing the competition.
“The opening games will be a triple-header and that is the reason we encourage supporters to share the stands. The runners-up will get E150 000,” he said.
His PLE Executive Committee colleague Polycarp Dlamini, who represented PLE Chairperson Mark Carmichael highlighted that the reason they decided to play the elite league teams only was due to time challenges as it was projected that the tournament will be played for seven days.
“We would like to thank EIPA for the soccer pitch and we promised them that they would take a certain percentage from the gate collections. This tournament goes with the tagline ‘Yesuka Eshowini,” Dlamini said.
He also said this tournament was a platform for the teams to use Under-19s as some clubs had more than three players in the national team Sihlangu, which is expected to depart for Burkina Faso on September 5 for the final group match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 Qualifiers. Sihlangu play Burkina Faso on September 8 in Morocco as their hosts also have no stadium at home that meets the international standards. Such clubs will play without those players who make up the national team and these are Mbabane Swallows, Mbabane Highlanders, Royal Leopard, Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes.
Highlanders are in the grand opening games next Sunday against elite league returnees Rangers, while Swallows will face off with Illovo who also got promoted to the top flight after a good run last season in the National First Division (NFD) at a later date. The grand opening matches will open with Highlanders and Rangers then a hub derby between Denver Sundowns and Manzini Sea Birds before the main hub derby sees Moneni Pirates take on Manzini Wanderers in the closing match of the day.
Allegations
Meanwhile, allegations from the PLE special meeting, where the media was not allowed once again, suggest mixed feelings about the package. Some were called but asked not to say anything at this point. EIPA’s Ntshangase, when making his remarks said the competition was a platform to promote business for emaSwati and they at EIPA treated football as a business. He thanked the PLE and EFA for coming up with the idea of hosting the tournament even after failing to secure a sponsor for it. “We are hoping that after this year’s tournament companies will come on board to sponsor the next edition,” Ntshangase said.
Finally, PLE CEO said the 2022/23 MTN Premier League champions Green Mamba and runners-up Young Buffaloes would play the winners from match one and two respectively in the last eight of the tournament. The Trade Fair Cup was last won by Mbabane Swallows in 2007, beating Young Buffaloes 2-0 in extra time.
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