MBABANE – Eswatini CAF envoys Green Mamba and Young Buffaloes have three weeks to finalise their venues for hosting their rivals.
It is expected that the qualifying rounds for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League will be played from August 18 to September 30, 2023. The qualifying rounds for the Confederation Cup will kick off on August 20 until October 1, 2023. The winners of the first and second preliminary rounds are expected to go directly to the group stage in both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup. The draws for the 2023/24 season of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup preliminary stages will be conducted at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, today at 2pm. The local sides have registered Zimpeto Stadium in Mozambique, with South Africa’s Mbombela Stadium being an alternative venue. However, the big challenges are the fees of these two stadiums. While Mbombela is reportedly over E80 000 to book, new quotations coming from Mozambique suggest that Zimpeto costs more than Mbombela Stadium. This has unsettled the local sides and they are now seeking for alternative cheaper venues.
Confirmed
Green Mamba CEO Mandla Sibiya confirmed that they registered the two stadiums but were looking for an alternative venue. “We got the quotation from Mozambique and we discovered that Zimpeto was costly than Mbombela. The reason we initially considered Mozambique stadiums was that we thought they were cheaper than those from South Africa, only to find that they were equally expensive,” said Sibiya. He said they would look for venues around Pretoria or Johannesburg. “We hope we will find something better from these two cities, otherwise we will have to settle for Mbombela if we cannot find any. We are hoping for the best in our search for cheaper stadiums,” added Sibiya.
Meanwhile, Buffaloes CEO Sandile Gwebu also confirmed they registered stadiums from Mozambique and Mbombela Stadium in South Africa. “We have a lease from Maputo and Mbombela; we just need to check who is cheaper,” Gwebu said. He, however, also said they had the same concerns regarding the costs of the stadiums. “It is super expensive to book these stadiums,” he said. Eswatini Football Association (EFA) CEO Frederick Mngomezulu when told about the concerns of the local sides said.
Response
“We can have a better response once the draw has been conducted. The fact of the matter is that the rules which applied on national teams concerning stadiums might not apply on the local teams. We can hope that CAF gives clubs leeway to host at home,” said Mngomezulu. On September 11, 2022 Mbabane Highlanders were given a leeway to host Royal AM in the CAF Confederation Cup at Somhlolo National Stadium, which is undergoing renovations. However, according to sources, Somhlolo National Stadium will be available after September 6 for international games. This means if CAF is lenient, they can only allow local teams to use Mavuso Sports Centre.
