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By Chris Dlamini
Have you ever wondered what it would mean for Sihlangu Semnikati if Eswatini won the upcoming COSAFA Cup?
The regional soccer showpiece resumes on June 4 this year in Bloemfontein, South Africa (SA), and as always, Eswatini will be taking part.
This is the tournament many emaSwati would like to see the nation’s pride lifting before the much-sought qualification into a major competition like the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for a start.
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However, the closest Sihlangu has come to winning the COSAFA Cup has been the semi-finals on two occasions. Last year was a huge failure, only returning home after the group stage under the then coach Dominic Kunene. At the helm, this time is Croatian Zdravko Logarusic.
After the squad’s exploits against a strong and worldwide respected Cameroon at Mbombela Stadium recently, Logarusic will be hopeful for a good tournament, which is going all out to win it.
There is money to be made here for him, his technical bench, and the players as well as their families. Besides the E500 000 champions’ prize in the Hollywood bets COSAFA Cup 2025, Sihlangu can stand to benefit slightly more than this amount in match winning bonuses.
An estimated total E522 000 is what Sihlangu Semnikati players, and the technical bench may have at stake. The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) pays E3 000 for a win, E1 500 for a draw, and E700 for a draw per player and official in all official matches.
The Eswatini Financial Times calculated how much the squad would earn for winning the COSAFA Cup, which would be a first.
Becoming the champion takes a maximum of six games as it is three matches in the group stage, then the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final.
For each game, the match winning bonuses paid out to 24 players, and five officials would amount to E87 000 at the scale of E3 000 per individual.
This effectively means the group stages’ three games would be a payout of E261 000. Moving on to the next three knockout stage matches would equal the same amount.
In the end, the team would have earned over E500 000. The exact figure stands at E522 000, making it E18 000 per individual. It is worth mentioning that this excludes the E250 training allowance per day paid to each player and officials.
The country that wins this tournament will be in Bloemfontein for about two weeks. Sihlangu head coach Logarusic sounded confident that he did not need to scratch his head anymore about selecting the best team to this competition.
“I’ve watched 23 games since I got here, and I know the players now. The league will finish a out a week before we travel to COSAFA, and that’s okay,” he said in a recent interview before he departed Eswatini to be with his family.
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The gaffer who led Eswatini to a historic goalless draw against the best of Cameroon in the first leg of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers-Africa zone is hoping to take that performance to the COSAFA Cup.
Meanwhile, the domestic league is left with four games before the season is over, and Logarusic is expected back in Eswatini around May 20 to 24,2025.
