Africa-Press – Eswatini. Players registered in their respective Under 19 clubs have cried foul on being stuck and stagnant with no competition, as well as being unable to find alternatives means to find game time.
This comes after teams were told to register their U-19 squads as a requirement for them to register for the season, as it was made clear that it’s part of the Club Licensing.
Since then, there has been no further developments or word on when the competition would resume after it was concluded earlier this year. The last round of games were played in June and subsequently saw Royal Leopard crowned the champions of the tournament, which is under the auspices of the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE).
This means the youngsters who were registered by their clubs have now been out of action for six months, with no options of getting registered anywhere else.
The reason behind this is because the new FIFA registration system puts all signings under one portal, meaning all the boys who were registered for the U-19 squads cannot be registered anywhere else, even for their regional teams, which was the norm in the past to give them game time and they have been idle all this time.
Situation
One of the players affected by the current situation chose to speak on condition of anonymity and said they were not happy and the current situation was killing their future.
“A majority of us are not happy with the current situation, we find ourselves being stuck in this situation. We cannot register for regional Super League teams so that at least we get some game time, and that is hurting our chances of becoming professionals.
‘‘There is still no news from our clubs or the PLE on when and how the situation will be fixed,” said the source.
Another source, who is a team administrator, said they had wasted their resources in registering players who were sitting idle and it was costing them.
“This will also hurt some of the older players aged 18 who were meant to use this year as the final year to make their case for the senior teams and get game time in the Premier League. Teams spent money and resources registering these boys. We really need to do better,” added the source.
PLE Development Officer Banele ‘Dingz’ Masondo said they were working on quick and amicable solutions to the problem, and would share any further updates once consultations had been made.
“We are aware of the frustration of most clubs, but I can assure them and all our stakeholders that we are working on it.
‘‘I am currently awaiting guidance from PLE management on the way forward and hopefully we will give a way forward once the office opens in January,” he said.
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