SOCCER – Local football has reached a definitive breaking point following a humiliating defeat to unranked Eritrea, sparking a stinging rebuke of the nation’s footballing authorities.
In a damning assessment of the state of the game, Myengwa ‘Goje’ Sibandze, the first man to serve as a fully employed Technical Director for the Eswatini Football Association (EFA), has claimed the national team’s regression is the direct result of a compromised administration.
For years, Sihlangu Semnikati has languished in mediocrity, failing to even reach a COSAFA final, but the recent collapse in the 2027 AFCON Qualifiers has left a soccer-loving nation in a state of collective fury. Sibandze, never a man to mince his words, insists that the governing body must now shoulder the ultimate responsibility for a crisis that has seen the national side become a continental laughing stock. He argued that even the world’s most elite managers would be powerless to fix the current trajectory while the existing structures remain in place.
“There are many wrongdoings around Sihlangu woeful performance and everyone is not happy. It is time we address this issues head on if we are serious.
“The organisation itself is compromised. Once an organisation is compromised, its structures are compromised too. The product out of that organisation will be also compromised. There are certain individuals who manipulate the organisation which affects the end results or outcome expected from the organisation. In our case, it compromises the performance of Sihlangu.
“Luckily, I watched the national team match against Eritrea and I was so disappointed with the performance on that day.
Looking at the Eritrea technical team, it is being coached by seasoned coaches while ours was shallow. I also fully agree with ‘Nuro’ that the blame should not be shouldered by him alone. We can even bring Jose Mourinho but he cannot change anything under the current situation,” he said.
He further called for the leaders of local football to take accountability, making an example of the Italian Football Federation executive who stepped down after failing to reach this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament.
“In the past we had Papic, Mashaba, Logarusic and many others but nothing has changed.
“Coaches have been sacrificed but how many changes have been made at the association. Who evaluates the organisation performance? It is a pity that the people in the upper echelons of our soccer administration remain relatively the same personalities. Very little has changed at the helm of the organisation as our football deteriorates. That is really tragedy. Look at Italy, a week ago, the football association president and coach resigned after the squad failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
“They saw it that their objectives could not work and as custodians of the game in that country, the best way was to step down,” he said.
The former technical director expressed further frustration regarding the EFA’s finances, suggesting that the association is no longer hamstrung by the budget constraints that defined previous decades. Despite an influx of FIFA funding, Sibandze believes the standard of talent identification and youth development has plummeted to an all-time low.
“I was part of the rebuilding national team in the 90s. During our time, the budget was insufficient but we tried, I used to board a public transport with my U-20 squad that consisted of ‘Spoko, Madzala, Mgonodi among others for friendly matches. Those boys later graduated to the senior team and formed a formidable side. Today there is no talent identification and you wonder how are we going to get players.
“We have hit a rock bottom. The budget is there now, FIFA is pumping money,” he said.
Despite the bleak outlook, Sibandze maintains that it is not yet too late to salvage the sport in Eswatini, provided the association is willing to embrace transparency and relinquish the grip of its long-standing inner circle.
“The association executive should allow the general assembly to exercise its oversight role. Once that happens, there will be broader consultation or interaction of the executive with the general membership.
“In that way, they are going to get ideas from membership and be able to identify people who are able to run the organisation. But from where I am standing, it is a circle of friends.
“The people who are in power are seemingly there for life.
“I know some individuals who have been serving for the past 20 years,” he said in a parting shot.
