Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) has been left with an egg on the face after failing to secure two international players for the back-to-back 2023 AFCON qualifiers against Togo and Burkina Faso.
Justice Figuareido and Bonginkhosi ‘Manyovu’ Dlamini were part of the Sihlangu squad named for the qualifiers but failed to report for camp, ahead of the first match against Togo tonight.
Dlamini, who is plying his trade with Angolan giants Sagranda Esperanca, was reportedly dropped from the final team on Tuesday, ahead of their trip to Togo for tonight’s first leg clash against the Hawks in Lome.
Sihlangu head coach Dominic Kunene revealed that Dlamini had been left out of the trip due to some administrative issues.
The former Young Buffaloes mentor further said they expected Figuareido to join them in Johannesburg for the trip to Togo but that was not the case. The Cape Town All Stars player did not make it after featuring in the Premier Soccer League promotion play-offs clash against Swallows at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Wednesday.
An EFA executive member, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, said they would investigate the matter as they expected both players to be part of the national team.
“We fail to understand how these two players were left behind because we consider them as key players in the national team set-up.
We needed the players’ experience in such important matches. We hope they did request the players on time from their respective teams. This is an official match which falls under the FIFA calendar and there is no way their teams would have refused to release them.” He said they were expecting a report from the responsible officials before discussing the issue at length during their next meeting.
“We will, thereafter, take a decision on this matter.
This should not be happening. They must provide us with answers,” the member said.
EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said they would wait for reports from the delegation, which travelled to Togo.
“We will say something once we get an official report from the delegation .We cannot say much for now until we have that report,” he said.
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