SOCCER – THE Sihlangu head coach position remains vacant despite Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima telling the Senate in August that a new coach would be appointed before the end of September.
Yesterday marked the last day of September, but the senior national team is still without a permanent head coach.
During the ministry’s first-quarter report in the Senate, senators raised concerns over Sihlangu’s performances and called for the appointment of a fulltime head coach. They also proposed that the coach’s salary be accommodated in the ministry’s budget.
In his response, Minister Nzima said the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) was already in the process of hiring a coach to replace interim coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane whose last day at the helm of local football’s hottest coaching position was in March 31.
“The process to hire a national team coach is done in phases, which include affordability, among other things. The coaches have been shortlisted and the new Sihlangu coach will be announced next month (September),” Nzima told senators.
The minister also said the EFA budget was too low to secure what he described as a proper coach and welcomed the proposal for the ministry to cover the coach’s salary.
“I appreciate the suggestion to have his salary catered for by the ministry so that we can fire him when there is underperformance,” Nzima said.
EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe yesterday said the process was still ongoing.
“What I know is that the process is still ongoing and the focus was in the junior squads.
I cannot be sure of where the stage of the recruitment is but I know that attention has been with the national Under-23s who are currently involved in a qualifying campaign for the AFCON next year as well as the Olympic Games,” Radebe said.
The Under-23 national team is currently involved in the qualifying campaign, with the junior side’s activities receiving attention from the association as the recruitment process for the senior team coach continues.
The U23s beat Malawi 1-0 in the first leg of the qualifying campaign on Tuesday away in Lilongwe and will host the second leg next Tuesday at Somhlolo National Stadium.
The Observer Sports Desk also sent a questionnaire to the ministry’s Communications Officer Phumaphi Msweli seeking clarification on the status of the appointment.
The ministry was asked why the new Sihlangu coach had not been announced, as stated by the minister in Parliament, and whether there had been any changes to the timeline given to senators.
Msweli promised to return with responses but had not done so by the time of compiling this report late yesterday.
Several calls made to her went unanswered.
Senator Celumusa Mdvoti, who chairs the Senate portfolio committee for sports, culture and youth affairs, also said he was not aware of how far the recruitment process had progressed.
“I will be meeting the minister tomorrow (today) and I will ascertain the position of the Sihlangu head coaching post and what was said in Parliament,” Mdvoti said.
