By Sibusiso Masilela
The Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) is set to get a major financial boost during the 2023/24 season set to kick off in September.
The organisation is expected to get an improved E1 million annual subvention from the Eswatini Football Association (EFA). The funding is set to increase by E30 000 from the 970 000 which the PLE received from the mother body during their previous final year which ended on June 30.
The money helps to ease the administrative and operational costs of the PLE and it will be paid in two stages. PLE Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Makhanya said they were expecting an increment in their annual EFA subvention.
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“We are likely to get an improved E1million subvention from EFA during the next financial year,” he said.
Meanwhile, EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said finance issues were administrative and they are usually discussed during their General Assembly (Annual General Meeting).
The EFA AGM will be held in the next two weeks at a venue yet to be announced.
“These are administrative issues which are usually tabled during the General Assembly,” he said.
EFA previously bankrolled PLE with the covid-19 relief fund and further funded the vaccination campaigns which were part of the preparations for the resumption of football from post covid-19 three years ago.
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The PLE recently recorded an E500 000 increment from gate collections for last season after they generated E888 290 from the E366 967 which they had made during the 2021/22 season. The elite football organisation recently stopped the production of the Eswatini Football Show with Media Mora where they had spent over E1million.
The current PLE Exco has successfully settled close to E1 million court settlements with its former Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Simanga Nhleko and Zwelonke ‘Sport’ Dlamini within the past two years PLE Chairman Mark Carmichael is also EFA Vice president by being the PLE Chairman and he also the head of the technical committee.
