Africa-Press – Eswatini. The lack of medical personnel in games was an issue last season for the PLE as clubs struggled to handle the costs associated with having the service in their matches.
The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) had to make a U-turn on its decision to have clubs pay from their own pocket for the availability of medical personnel in stadiums, which would ensure an ambulance was in the vicinity. The security personnel were also catered for by teams alongside the medical services, which would cost more than E10 000 in combined costs.
Allowed
Going to the PLE Trade Fair Cup, which resumes on Sunday at Mavuso Sports Centre, the PLE has made it clear that ambulances will not be allowed to enter the stadium or field of play unless a player had collapsed or suffered a cardiac arrest. “This is one of the updates teams’ leaders have been given so that they also do not get tempted to drive cars into the stadium, particularly on the synthetic track,” an impeccable source revealed.
This information was also confirmed by two PLE Executive Committee members who also said the PLE Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kenneth Makhanya, or Football Manager Pat Vilakati could best comment on these developments.
“You’ll recall that Highlanders once had their bus driving partly on the synthetic track at Somhlolo National Stadium causing damage to it, so we want to avoid that happening again,” said one of the sources close to the matter. “EMS will not enter field unless called by the referee or the above-mentioned (player collapse or cardiac arrest) incident has happened. “The PLE also expects all fans to not shout at the EMS staff as they work according to instructions,” one team official said. It was also gathered that EMS will only provide one ambulance at the Trade Fair Cup as there was a shortage and also other national events taking place this weekend like the Annual Reed Dance (Umhlanga).
Comment
The ambulances will be locked out of the stadium because no vehicle is expected to drive on the running track. No immediate comment could be obtained from the CEO as he said he was engaged in a meeting and could not respond at the time. It was later established that clubs were told about these updates yesterday afternoon during a briefing at Mavuso Sports Centre in Manzini.
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