Sports Ministry not doing enough for football in Swaziland

By Ntokozo Nkambule

In this year’s financial budget the Ministry of Sports  is one of the Ministries that received the least amount of money as they received less than E50 million. This money caters for all sports sectors in the country. The bulk of the money goes into football but that it is not sufficient to improve the level of football in Swaziland.

Sports in Swaziland are considered to be a past time, they are done just to while away time, and they are not professional. The Sports Ministry is not doing enough to revive the sports fraternity and soccer particularly. The Ministry should make a compelling case to government to look into the issue of soccer in Swaziland to ensure that they improve it. Football actually generates income and for a lot of countries but in Swaziland that is not the case and with the current status quo it actually looks like it will take a long time for that to happen.

The Ministry of Sports apart from looking at government for sponsorship they should also engage with companies and organizations for sponsorship. Currently, there are less than four organizations in Swaziland that are involved in sponsoring the Premier Soccer League. They compose of The Swazi Bank, Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications (SPTC) as well as the Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN). Does this mean that the other organizations in Swaziland would not assist the Premier League of Swaziland? Or they are just not convinced enough by the Ministry of Sports. All organizations are in competition and they want to outdo each other as such they should be scrambling with each other to Sponsor the Premier League but this not the case.

Development is undoubtedly the central point, if football is to improve in Swaziland. Football will not improve in Swaziland if there are still no development structures in place. The Ministry of Sports should ensure that development of football takes place at a tender age. Firdose Moonda in his blog, Football Africa states that every country is capable of producing the best players all it takes are development structures. There should be soccer academies which are established to ensure that the talent which is out there is not lost. There are a number of talented youngsters but most of them do not get the chance to showcase their talent at the highest level because the environment in Swaziland does not permit them.

Development requires money but more than anything it requires the Ministry of Sports to have a will in developing talent in Swaziland. There are a lot of aspiring people who would love to be involved in soccer in Swaziland such as coaching but they are not afforded the opportunity because they are aware that in Swaziland football does not pay. The Ministry should go all around Swaziland and galvanize all those interested in football and ensure that soccer is taken to the next level.

It looks like it is more than the lack of financial resources that is hindering the development of football but the will and vision from those put in this position. Those heading Sports in Swaziland are not aware of their task. They are not aware of the importance of football and sports. They clearly also lack the will to take sports to the next level like our neighbouring countries have done. It is disheartening that countries like Mozambique and Lesotho are making strides in their soccer development but Swaziland lags behind yet they are ranked economically lower than Swaziland.