By Sharon Tawuya
Harare, (New Ziana) — A Parliamentary delegation from the Kingdom of Eswatini is in Zimbabwe on a benchmarking visit to learn best practices in football governance and administration.
The delegation from the Sports Committee of the Parliament of Eswatini, led by Mtongwani Constituency MP Noah Hlope, on Friday met the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
It also heard presentations from the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA), and the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
Hlope said the visit was necessitated by the growing influence of Zimbabwe in the region’s football and the presence of Eswatini players in the local league.
“Zimbabwe has been contributing a lot to Eswatini Football. We have not had players from Eswatini to Zimbabwe before but now we do. So we are trying to see what is it that Zimbabwe is doing that we can learn from. We also need team owners to come to Eswatini and own football teams,” he said.
Chairperson of the Zimbabwean Portfolio Committee on Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, who is Murehwa West legislator, Farai Jere, said the visit was motivated by improvements in the administration of local football.
“We have players from Eswatini who are in our league, one playing for Scotland FC and one for Hardrock, and they were also inspired by the fact that for the first time we have players in our league from Botswana. So these are the issues which made them to decide to come and see what exactly has transformed our football league. Our league is well funded and even our teams have done so well. We are happy to have representatives of the Sports Committee of Eswatini to see what we are doing right,” he said.
Scotland FC has two players from Eswatini while Hardrock has one.
Speaking at the same occasion, Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture director Dr Eugenia Chidhakwa described the engagement as productive.
“This has been an interesting engagement where we have also learnt a lot from our MPs and from Eswatini,” she said.
The meeting provided an opportunity for both Parliaments to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and strengthen collaboration on legislative oversight, governance frameworks, and football development in their respective countries.
New Ziana
