Africa-Press – Eswatini. ESWATNI fans have cried foul over their continuous ban during Sihlangu Semnikati’s home matches, which are currently hosted in South Africa.
The senior national side has already played two of its home matches in South Africa, against Somalia and Burkina Faso, in the ongoing AFCON 2023 Qualifiers.
The next two home matches will be against Togo and Cape Verde, which are also expected to be played in the neighbouring country.
According to disgruntled fans, they are not allowed to travel with the national team to South Africa despite the eased COVID -19 restrictions, which are said to allow 50 per cent capacity of vaccinated fans in that country’s football stadiums. The country is currently faced with a stadium headache after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruled both the Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre being unfit to host international matches.
Eswatini Football Supporters Association Chairman Menzi ‘Madlakadlaka’ Dladla said they were extremely disappointed by their continuous absence during the nation’s pride’s home matches.
“We are extremely disappointed by the continuous restriction of not allowing us to travel with the national team to South Africa despite being fully vaccinated. Our presence can boost the morale of players, as they lacked the power of the 12th man during the recent loss against Burkina Faso,” he decried.
Dladla said they were ready to spend their hard-earned resources to attend the national team’s matches. “We can travel with the team to South Africa as a majority of our members were vaccinated during the Premier League of Eswatini vaccination campaigns. We plead with the EFA to do something about this issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eswatini Football Association Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said they were following regulations of the stadium owners when they booked international venues. “We are being guided by the stadium owners over the attendance of spectators during international matches. We always stick to their conditions when booking a venue,” he clarified.
When asked to elaborate about such regulations, Radebe was quick to refer queries to the stadium owners.
“You can get more answers on the regulations from the relevant authorities,” he ended.
Meanwhile, the First National Bank Stadium Manager Jacques Grobbel was sought for clarity on the matter but was not reachable until the time of compiling this report last night.
This outcry comes in the midst of the local football mother body having spent over E200 000 in rentals for the use of the top of the range football facility in South Africa.
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