Team fields 12 players in Cup game

MBABANE. - In a bizarre mix-up, an African team played a cup game with 12 players on the pitch.

The incident happened yesterday at the Somhlolo Stadium in the Eswatini Premier League Momo Cup competition semi-final.

Rangers, who were relegated from the topflight last season, were up against Nsingizini in the last four of the Momo Cup.

For 30 minutes, Rangers played with 12 players before fans started signalling to the match officials that the First Division side had more than 11 players on the pitch.

“It was quite a weird incident. The referee didn’t notice that the Rangers had 12 players for almost 30 minutes,” a football journalist told FARPost from his Eswatini base.

“The fans picked it up after a while and started whistling, alerting the referee to double-check.

“The 12th player was pulled out, and the game continued. It’s embarrassing.”

Rangers lost the match 3-0 despite the early advantage they enjoyed.

In the other semi-final, Mbabane Highlanders, whom South African businessman, Ally Kgomongwe, owns, drew 1-1 with Moneni Pirates. Pirates emerged 5-4 victors after a penalty shootout.

The journalist pointed out that Denver Sundowns wore South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns’ kit a fortnight ago during the MoMo Cup play-offs.

They donned the yellow jersey with their blue shorts branded in their familiar Kappa brand.

Interestingly, earlier this year, in April, Bayern Munich had 12 players on the pitch towards the end of their 4-1 victory over Freiburg.

The Bavarians led 2-0 when the confusion led to them playing with an extra man for around 20 seconds.

The cause of the confusion was attributed to the electronic boards. Instead of Coman’s No.11, the No.29 came up, a number that does not belong to any Bayern Munich players.