By Lwazi Dlamini
Just like the national team, Sihlangu Semnikati’s slippery slope in the FIFA rankings, the Eswatini Premier League has dropped from position 14 to 23 in the African football league rankings.
According to the Africa Soccer Zone website, the leagues were ranked after the completion of the Group stages of the 2022/2023 CAF Interclub competitions. Eswatini was represented by Royal Leopard in the CAF Champions League and Mbabane Highlanders in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Both teams failed to reach the Group stages of the respective inter-club competitions. Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenneth Makhanya said the drop in the rankings is a challenge that has been thrown to the leadership in the organisation to continue building the league’s reputation.
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“I take it as a challenge for us to do the right things which include enforcing the CAF Club Licensing and getting the league to be more professional. If we do that, we will be amongst the best,” Makhanya said.
Top of the rankings is 2022 World Cup semir-finalists Morocco who last week stunned the World’s number one nation, Brazil 2-1 in a friendly match. Eswatini is ranked the same as Kenya, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Mauritania, and Benin.
The top 30 CAF rankedCAF-ranked leagues:
1. Morocco
2. Egypt
3. Algeria
4. South Africa
5. Tunisia
6. DR Congo
7. Tanzania
8. Angola
9. Sudan
10. Guinea
11. Libya
12. Nigeria
13. Ivory Coast
14. Cameroon
15. Zambia
16. Congo
17. Senegal
18. Mali
19. Uganda
20. Botswana
21. Zimbabwe
22. Togo
23. Kenya
23. Eswatini
23. Burkina Faso
23. Niger
27. Ghana
27. Mauritania
27. Benin
