SOCCER – RED Rhinos have formally withdrawn from their agreement with Manzini Wanderers over the club’s Premier League status.
Club President Sithembiso ‘Ngudze’ Mamba has cited concerns over the Red Rhinos identity, existing player contracts, registration issues and outstanding payments as the reasons behind their decision.
Mamba communicated the club’s decision in a letter addressed to the CEO and Managing Committee (MC) of the Premier League of Eswatini (PLE) with the correspondence also copied the Eswatini Football Association (EFA).
In the letter, Mamba said the Red Rhinos name remained central to the club’s identity and commercial relationships, particularly its sponsorship arrangements.
“The name Red Rhinos is a brand that holds historical and special meaning to us and is currently linked to our sponsors. Abandoning the name would, therefore, have serious consequences for the club, including the potential loss of its sponsorship,” he wrote in the letter.
Mamba also pointed to existing agreements with players that were signed under the Red Rhinos brand.
“We have outstanding contracts and agreements with our players signed under the brand name that we cannot go against,” he wrote.
He added that the club’s official documents, stamps and other working materials were already branded, making a complete change of identity costly.
The issue of registration was another factor cited in the letter. Mamba said Red Rhinos was not prepared to operate under another club’s name, arguing that this would conflict with the club’s principles.
“We are not prepared to use another team’s name as ours. Our policies and ethics do not align with that of the team,” he wrote.
Mamba further stated that after Wanderers failed to play in the 8bet Trade Fair Cup under the Red Rhinos name, it proceeded with its own arrangements.
“Since you refused to play the 8bet Cup under our name, we took it upon ourselves to play and have already registered our players in the FIFA Connect platform,” he wrote.
According to the letter, the registration places Red Rhinos in the Premier League.
Financial difficulties were also cited as a major reason for the withdrawal. Mamba alleged that the remaining balance for the status had not been paid, leaving the club in financial difficulty.
“You have failed to pay up the remaining balance for the status which has placed us in financial dismay,” he wrote.
He explained that Red Rhinos had released players to other teams in anticipation of being able to use the proceeds and outstanding payment to recruit players from elsewhere, but that plan could not be fulfilled.
Mamba also revealed that a director from Manzini Wanderers had suggested that the deal be called off because the process had become prolonged and difficult.
“Their director suggested that we call off the deal since it was turning out to be a long and tiresome process,” Mamba wrote.
He said Red Rhinos directors had accepted the suggestion and were subsequently informing the football authorities of their withdrawal.
“We as directors of Red Rhinos FC accept their suggestion. We are since writing to PLE and EFA informing them of our withdrawal from the deal,” he wrote.
PLE CEO Patros Vilakati could not be reached as his phone went unanswered despite several attempts to contact him yesterday.
Meanwhile, EFA Marketing and Communications Manager Muzi Radebe said the organisation had not received any correspondence from PLE.
“Usually, we get such letters from PLE but for now nothing has reached EFA from PLE with regard to the issue you are talking about,” he said.
