Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Somhlolo National Stadium does not qualify for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) examination despite the rehabilitations which have been done so far.
The Eswatini soccer mecca is currently undergoing refurbishment, following the CAF ban, which was imposed in 2019. The country was among 23 nations whose stadiums were deemed sub-standard and unfit for hosting international matches. The situation for Eswatini, worsened when the Mavuso Sports Centre, the only alternative venue, suffered the same fate in February 2022. A couple of weeks ago, the CAF team was in Zimbabwe, where they inspected National Sports Stadium and Rufaro Stadium in Harare to release a report later.
According to Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frederick Mngomezulu, they were currently not at liberty to invite the CAF Stadium Inspection team to come to the country to check whether Eswatini’s main football arena now meets the required standards.
embarked
This, Mngomezulu said, was due to the fact that the rehabilitations were not yet been finished. This comes after the CAF inspection team had embarked on the inspection exercise in some of the countries, which had their stadiums banned. “Currently we do not even qualify to make that request, you request for an inspection after you have completed the work. As long as the rehabilitation is still on-going, we can’t request. CAF does not allow requests made in anticipation of certain deadlines,” Mngomezulu explained. The completion of this rehabilitation under Phase III will be month end as according to the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.
As it stands, EFA will be hosting Libya for the 2026 Africa World Cup Qualifiers at South Africa’s Mbombela Stadium. The kick-off is scheduled for November 11. Notable is that EFA spent slightly over E800 000 on stadium rental last year, while working under a E1 million budget. Moreover, stadium hire has proved to be not affordable for some local teams, who happen to compete in the continental inter-club competitions. About two months ago, Young Buffaloes were forced to pull off from the CAF Confederation Cup after the cost of playing the first two-legged preliminary rounds cost neared E 1million.
withdraw
The army-side cited mainly playing home-away-from-home as one major reason to withdraw. However, Green Mamba who soldiered on had to use the Zimpeto National Stadium in Mozambique at an over E100 000 fee. The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs through its Communications Officer, Sibongiseni Zondi, has noted some significant progress made in the face-lift of Somhlolo. Zondi said the improvements are part of the ministry’s overall plan to improve the state of the national stadium.
rehabilitation
“This phase is now at 95 per cent completion and is projected to be completed by October 31. In the current stage of rehabilitation work, the ministry has installed a new perimeter fence with automated entry points; extended and rehabilitated the VIP section and tunnels; installed a new clear view fence; installed an upgraded and interactive public address (PA) system,” Zondi said. At first, when the ban was imposed, CAF ordered the installation of a new turf, media tribune and fixing of the plumbing system. However, these have been have been resolved. Some of the benchmarks which are pending include covering of the ‘No-Man’s land with seats and installation of big view screens in the stadium. The rehabilitation of Somhlolo is estimated to cost around E100 million.
In the wake of these challenges, CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe on Friday brought a glim of hope to the country’s stadium struggles. Motsepe had meeting with the chairpersons of the most successful clubs in the continent. Among its objectives is to build partnerships with sponsors; the private sector and governments to build stadiums that comply with CAF and FIFA standards. Part of these objective is the construction other football infrastructure and facilities in each of the 54 CAF member associations.
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