MINISTRY INTERVENES, ‘Y’ELLO’ ACTION BACK
MBABANE – Eswatini and Botswana have met only twice in official matches since 2018 and only once in the COSAFA Senior Challenge.
They meet again in the TOTALEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2022 Qualifiers with the finals set for Algeria from January 7-31, next year. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Wednesday that there will, for the first time, be an increase of teams from 16 to 18 in the finals, giving countries like Eswatini more chances to try and qualify for the first time. Only locally-based (domestic) players are eligible for the tournament.
In the CHAN 2022 draw held yesterday in Algeria, Eswatini was drawn against Botswana, who were first out of the pot and will host the first leg. This will be the first meeting in official matches between the two neighbours but Botswana’s Zebras, as their national team is fondly known, are one up over Sihlangu (Eswatini national team). In 2018, Eswatini lost 0-2 to the Zebras in the COSAFA Cup before a 1-1 tie last July in the same tournament. This was in the group stage of the regional competition. The 2022 edition is set for Durban in July. The 21st COSAFA Cup instalment is scheduled to kick-off on July 5-17, which will give Sihlangu no rest as they would then have to go and play Botswana in the CHAN qualifying match away, before the second leg at home which is away in South
MBABANE – After a week of uncertainty, it is back to action in the MTN Premier League.
The Eswatini Football Association (EFA), together with the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE), are said to have smoked the peace pipe. The two organisations have been up in arms following that EFA was not releasing players to clubs. The PLE ended up fixturing only teams that have less than three players
Africa probably. Eswatini currently has no hosting venue for international soccer matches due to a ban by CAF. The Mbombela Stadium has been an option before when the TOTALEnergies African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 Qualifiers preliminary round was played. Sihlangu played Somalia away in Mbombela for the home match.
Practice
The draw comes in the wake of Sihlangu’s 1-0 win away in Mozambique on Wednesday in a practice match as they prepare for the group stage qualifiers of the AFCON 2023 finals against Togo on June 3 before hosting Burkina Faso on June 7. Sihlangu is also with Cape Verde in the same group but will meet them later in the year with the qualifiers extending to next year as they are two-legged. Should Sihlangu win the two-legged tie, they will continue to the next round, whereby they will meet the winner between Seychelles and Madagascar in round two in what seems an easy path in the first and second rounds for Eswatini. It is anticipated that in the national team. However, it did not end there as there was more drama as referees did not show up for games that were due to be played on Tuesday.
In actual fact, EFA won round one as they managed to stop elite league games as they had early stated that players were supposed to be at camp with the national team. Fast forward to yesterday, it seems the two oraganisations have smoked the peace pipe as games fixtures have been released. All the eight fixtures will be played on Sunday and will kick-off at 2:30pm.
FULL CHAN DRAW:
WESTERN ZONE A: All nine teams from region entered to take part in the qualifiers, and three teams will qualify.
Round one:
Liberia
Sierra Leone
The Gambia
Round two:
Liberia/Senegal v Guinea
Sierra Leone/Cape Verde v Mali
The Gambia/Guinea-Bissau v Mauritania
WESTERN ZONE B: All seven teams from region entered, and three teams will qualify.
Round one:
Ghana
Round two:
Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso
Togo v Niger
Ghana/Benin v Nigeria
CENTRAL ZONE: A total of six teams entered, and three will qualify. Sao Tome e Principe were suspended from the CHAN after withdrawing from the 2020 qualifiers, while Gabon opted not to enter.
C. African Rep. v Congo
Eq. Guinea v Cameroon
Chad v DR Congo v Senegal v Cape Verde v Guinea-Bissau v Benin
the first round of matches in the qualifiers are scheduled for June 24 and the qualifying
According to sources close to both organisations, the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs had to intervene. Reached for comment, PLE CEO Kenneth Makhanya confirmed that they had to agree with stakeholders and thus the fixture was released for Sunday games.
Agreement
Reached for comment, EFA Media Officer Muzi Radebe, in a correspondence sent late yesterday, said an agreement was reached to release the players to their teams this evening. “These players
Sihlangu were yesterday drawn against Botswana in the CHAN 2022 Algeria Qualifiers. The draw was held in Algeria.
CENTRAL EAST ZONE: A total of nine teams entered, and three teams will qualify. Eritrea and Kenya opted not to enter.
Round one:
Ethiopia
Somalia
Burundi
Round two:
Ethiopia/South Sudan v Rwanda Somalia/Tanzania v Uganda Burundi/Djibouti v Sudan
SOUTHERN ZONE: A total of 12 teams entered, and three will qualify. Lesotho opted not to enter while Namibia were part of CAF’s original draw procedures but were not included in the final draw.
Round one:
Mauritius
Comoros
Botswana
Seychelles
Malawi
Mozambique
Round two:
Mauritius/Angola v Comoros/South Africa Botswana/Eswatini v Seychelles/Madagascar Malawi/Zimbabwe v Mozambique/Zambia v South Sudan v Tanzania v Djibouti v Angola v South Africa v Eswatini v Madagascar v Zimbabwe v Zambia
matches will run until September this year.
are expected to report back to the national team camp on Sunday, May 29 in time to travel to Togo,” reads the statement.
Sibongiseni Zondi, Communications Officer in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs said; “We are pleased to confirm that following a formal request for intervention by one of the parties involved in the matter, we, through the Sports Council, convened a meeting on Wednesday and brought together all the parties involved with the aim of helping them find common ground.”
He further said they were pleased to share that this common ground was found during this meeting, resulting in a breakthrough.