Africa-Press – Eswatini. As there is an ongoing debate on which is the country’s best team, some teams are already interested in taking up the CAF’s best slot in the Africa Club Association (ACA).
The Confederation of African Football two days ago launched the ACA. However, no Eswatini team automatically got a slot, as only the top 80 teams that are inaugural associates of the ACA. However, nothing is lost for the country as in the interest of inclusivity, the most successful football club in a member association is eligible to apply for membership. It is said that an eligible club that wishes to be part of the organisation will need to submit an application in writing to the ACA administration. Worth noting is that CAF’s most successful club rankings are based on a five-year inter-club competition performance. Among local best CAF ranked teams, in no particular order, are Royal Leopard, Mbabane Swallows, Mbabane Highlanders, Young Buffaloes and Green Mamba.
Out of a number of objectives, the ACA seems to address the local pressing issues, including building partnerships with sponsors. These partnerships with the private sector and governments would assist in the construction of stadiums that comply with CAF and FIFA standards. Eswatini is currently among over 20 countries without a stadium that complies with CAF benchmarks. In the previous season, Buffaloes withdrew from the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup earlier this year due to heavy costs incurred due to lack of a home ground.
Initiative
Six-time league winners and 2016/17 CAF Champions League group finishers, Swallows, welcomed the initiative. ‘Birds’ Public Relations Officer (PRO) Knowledge Ngwenya said it was long overdue. “We would like to pass our utmost appreciation to CAF and all stakeholders for such a move. It was long overdue, as it seeks to address issues we have faced with no support. At the right time if given an opportunity to apply, we will surely make means,” Ngwenya said.
Meanwhile, cross-town rivals Highlanders PRO Kenneth Dlamini said he was not better positioned to comment but said it was a good move. The ‘Bull’ have last won a league title at the entry of the century and were knocked out of the Confederation preliminary stages last season by South Africa’s Royal AM. “It is better to speak about something one is well versed with. We are not aware of the conditions it comes with but we’ll indicate if we’re applying once we get enough knowledge about it,” he said.
Armed
However, police-side PRO Frank Hurube said once they were armed with the right information, they would check if it was viable. He said they had not received any communication from Eswatini Football Association (EFA) or his bosses, but heard about the ACA launch. Leopard are the CAF’s best ranked team locally and have won the league eight times. However, EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said his office was still awaited a formal communication from CAF. “CAF has not said anything yet, which would be a guide as to what steps we should take next. Therefore, it is hard to tell if we would make means to have the country represented in ACA,” Radebe said.
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