Unjabbed fans for big derbies
EZULWINI – It will still not be the 7 500 full capacity crowd for the country’s biggest football fixture next Sunday.
However, it can be confirmed that it will be close to it as the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) aims at having 5 000 tickets printed for the grand closing title decider between traditional rivals Mbabane Swallows and Mbabane Highlanders. The match is billed for the Mavuso Sports Centre at 2:30pm, just simultaneously with the other title-decider, a security forces derby between leaders and defending champions Royal Leopard and Young Buffaloes. This one is scheduled for KaLanga Technical Centre. Without a doubt, Highlanders and Swallows have dominated the season in terms of crowd attendance and the capital city spark has been re-triggered since the arrival of Highlanders Managing Director Chief Ally Kgomongwe in 2019.
More fans will want to watch this one given what is at stake; Highlanders have a real chance for their first MTN Premier League title, they both have the TOTALEnergies CAF inter-club competitions chance, both Champions League and Confederation Cup for Highlanders while Swallows can go to the latter one. Swallows are also looking for revenge after losing the bragging rights with a 1-0 defeat in first round.
Investigations into the increased crowds in games involving Highlanders and Swallows particularly, initiated by that they looked to be more than the set 500 spectators in the smaller venues like KaLanga and Prince of Wales Sports Ground, uncovered that teams may have been deprived of better numbers. This follows that since government eased the COVID-19 regulations in March this year, football authorities appeared to stick to the set limits and requirement for vaccination to be able to buy ticket.
The vaccination requirements saw the first round capital city derby fail to attract the expected 5 000 crowd back in January as people shied away from the jab. Close to 4 000 tickets were sold. At KaLanga the limit was set to 500, but more fans can go down to watch the game between Buffaloes and Leopard, as the vaccination is no barrier anymore. The March statement by Premier Cleopas Dlamini eased restrictions on outdoor sporting activities but masks and one metre social distancing. Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Ministry’s Communcations Officer Sibongiseni Zondi affirmed that crows restrictions were lifted including the must-be vaccinated requirement.
MOST RESTRICTIONS
“As announced by the PM, most restrictions on outdoor sporting activities are now lifted. This means that restrictions on vaccination and number of attendees, for example, have been lifted. However, relevant restrictions on outdoor gatherings will continue to apply. This means that all spectators at outdoor sporting events will be required to wear face masks correctly and observe social distancing of at least one metre. Spectators at indoor sporting activities will be expected to wear face masks at all such activities,” read a statement by the Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Ministry giving guidance to sports, arts and entertainment events consequent to an earlier statement by the Premier.
PLE Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Pat Vilakati was questioned if they had plans for an increased crowd at Mavuso for the grand closing finale.
“The pre-COVID-19 seating capacity of Mavuso Stadium is 7 500.
Under current COVID-19 Rules for sports gatherings the seating capacity is 5 000. This enables management to ensure all COVID-19 protocols are adhered to and safety measures ensure the security of everyone attending PLE Football fixtures,” he diplomatically responded.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said they would only have 5 000 tickets, but conceded that lately they had allowed fans into games yet they were unvaccinated. The official also confided that it was not an issue that was clarified to them despite the Premier’s statement being clear. It is a known fact that the PLE wants to get as many numbers back into the stadia and advocate for people to take the jab to date. As Sports Ministry’s Zondi put it, there was no need for the PLE to make a special request this time around. He said the only limitation would be capacity of the arena as the social distancing was to be maintained.