BELOW IS HOW LEOPARD’S CAF BILL LOOKS;
MBABANE – Travel and COVID-19 testing will see Royal Leopard’s TOTALEnergies CAF Champions League bill shoot to slightly E400 000 short of the E1 million MTN Premier League 2020/21 championship prize.
In two matches in the preliminary rounds of the continental inter-club tournament, Leopard, who progressed to the second preliminary round last Saturday over Zambia’s ZESCO United, stand to accumulate an estimated bill of E638 500 after travelling to and from Angola next month to face Sagrada in the first leg.
Travelling to Zambia last Wednesday cost them E219 000 in airfares which were catered for by the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) while testing cost them E22 950 for their 27 players and when eight officials are included, the testing bill became E29 750.
With the first leg scheduled for the weekend of October 15 to 17, Leopard will require about E12 000 per air ticket and calculate that with a delegation of 30 people including the players, it totals E360 000.
The EFA had paid for 30 air tickets in the Zambia trip where Leopard ousted ZESCO United with a 2-all aggregate favoured by the away goals rule. The Eswatini side had won the first leg 10 about a fortnight ago. ZESCO kicked off their domestic league campaign with a 2-0 home win over Chambishi on Wednesday evening.
Camp
Meanwhile, Ingwe Mabalabala (Leopard) will require the testing again before going into fulltime camp next week and before departure for the game. “We’ll see, perhaps we’ll take the rapid testing for the camp as we don’t have the money and only take the PCR at E850 before we leave for Angola. Otherwise our air tickets to Angola won’t come cheap as they range between E11 000 and E12 000, but
Air tickets to Zambia COVID-19 testing
Air tickets for Angola COVID-19 testing - about E219 000
- about E29 750 for 35 members at E850 each
- E360 000 maximum for team of 30 people - E29 750 for 35 members at E850 each
we’re yet to receive the official quotation,” Leopard PRO Frank Hurube said.
At E11 000 per ticket, Leopard would need E330 000 for a delegation of 30 people. “It’s an expensive tournament which is why we hope to reach the group stage to get the finance for the other games otherwise we’re appealing for assistance from all companies and business individuals. The EFA helped us a lot for Zambia and we hope they’ll be with us all the way,” Hurube said.
Meanwhile, Leopard stand to receive E8.1 million if they get through Sagrada to the group stage which will be played next February. Should the EFA continue covering the airfares, it will mean the organisation would have forked out nearly E1 million for the two representatives as they also bought same for Young Buffaloes who were knocked out of the TOTALEnergies CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round by Zambia’s Red Arrows with a 21 aggregate score.