Africa-Press – Eswatini. THE Eswatini Football Association (EFA) is currently caught in a dilemma ahead of their 2026 World Cup Qualifiers against Libya and Cape Verde between November 17 and 21 at Mbombela Stadium, South Africa.
According to EFA President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane, the Mbombela Stadium had a few problems during Sihlangu’s AFCON 2023 Qualifier against Cape Verde, where they found out that some of the seat on the Technical Area were missing, which led the country to be handed a US$5 000 (E80 000) fine by CAF after the venue was deemed not to be compliant to CAF standards.
Simelane further said, “The stadium management (Mbombela Stadium) has promised us that by the time of the game against Libya, all those minor problems would have been sorted out, so we will have our fingers crossed for it to be fixed so that we can use Mbombela. If not so, we will be forced to look for another venue for our national team’s home games.”
The football organisation has been using South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province’s 2010 FIFA World Cup venue as their alternative home games venue since the ban of Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre by CAF in 2018.
Concerning Somhlolo National Stadium, the president said it would take time for the stadium to be back to its fully functional stage and host international games.
advantage
“Somhlolo for now has these glaring major things that need to be sorted, including the big screen, VIP Lounge and a back-up generator and without those things, it is not possible for us to host games at Somhlolo for now.
We also hope they will be sorted soon,” said the president.
Simelane admitted that the stadium crisis was depriving the players of the home ground advantage, as it limited the number of supporters watching the games, yet the 12th player, who are the supporters, played a major role in motivating players during matches and also playing in an environment they were used to.
EFA usually spends E130 000 per match to book an alternative venue with Mbombela and the FNB Stadiums being options for EFA before.
Sihlangu has started its training at the Technical Centre in Lobamba in preparation for the World Cup Qualifiers.
For now, the team will only train twice a week (Monday and Tuesday) until the FIFA Week, according to national team head coach Dominic Kunene.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
