{"id":33612,"date":"2023-09-13T15:44:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T15:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football"},"modified":"2023-09-13T17:14:19","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T17:14:19","slug":"somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football","title":{"rendered":"SOMHLOLO TO OPEN GATES FOR FOOTBALL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>The hosting of the country’s 55th Double Celebration at Somhlolo National Stadium seems to have had good spinoffs, as the country\u2019s only football Mecca is now ready to host Premier League games ahead of the 2023\/24 season to resume on Friday.<\/b><\/p>\n

Teams will once again use the artificial turf of the country’s football capital as the Premier League opener will be staged at the national arena that was all along undergoing renovations for the entire season.<\/p>\n

The national stadium hosted the international friendly between the Under-23 squad and Mozambique during the 55th Double Celebration held last week Wednesday.<\/p>\n

However, the stadium still awaits approval from the Confederation of African Football to host international games. Currently, it is banned after it was diclared unfit to host such games, resulting in Sihlangu and other local clubs hosting their home games in foreign stadiums.<\/p>\n

A source close to the matter said all opening MTN Premier League games in the new season would be played at Somhlolo National Stadium except for the Nsingizini Hotspurs versus Manzini Wanderers match, which might be played at Ka-Langa Stadium.<\/p>\n

The source confirmed that league games would resume on Friday.<\/p>\n

Premier League of Eswatini COO Pat Vilakati also confirmed that the league would kick-off this weekend and a detailed fixture would be released as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can confirm that league games will start this weekend. We are currently finalising venues before releasing the fixture. All teams have been made aware of the developments,\u201d he said. Somhlolo Stadium now has a new-look entrance and the VIP seats have been replaced.<\/p>\n

Works at the stadium are on-going at the tunnels and VIP lounge while a power generator and big screen are yet to be added, according to EFA President Peter Simelane, who recently gave an update on the renovations.
\nWeek 1 Games
\nGreen Mamba vs Young Buffaloes
\nRangers vs Mbabane Swallows
\nMbabane Highlanders vs Madlenya
\nRoyal Leopard vs Tambuti
\nNsingizini Hotspurs vs Manzini Wanderers
\nManzini Sea Birds vs Moneni Pirates
\nDenver Sundowns vs Illovo<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. The hosting of the country’s 55th Double Celebration at Somhlolo National Stadium seems to have had good spinoffs, as the country\u2019s only football Mecca is now ready to host Premier League games ahead of the 2023\/24 season to resume on Friday. Teams will once again use the artificial turf of the country’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":33611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-33612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nSOMHLOLO TO OPEN GATES FOR FOOTBALL - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The hosting of the country's 55th Double Celebration at Somhlolo National Stadium seems to have had good spinoffs, as ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SOMHLOLO TO OPEN GATES FOR FOOTBALL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The hosting of the country's 55th Double Celebration at Somhlolo National Stadium seems to have had good spinoffs, as ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eswatini\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-13T15:44:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-13T17:14:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/09\/sm_1694612471.688965.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"SOMHLOLO TO OPEN GATES FOR FOOTBALL\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-13T15:44:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-13T17:14:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\"},\"wordCount\":354,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/sites\/33\/2023\/09\/sm_1694612471.688965.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Eswatini\",\"Eswatini\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/somhlolo-to-open-gates-for-football\",\"name\":\"SOMHLOLO TO OPEN GATES FOR FOOTBALL - 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