January 17 – Swaziland is in shock and all football in the country has been suspended after Premier League of Swaziland chairman Victor Gamedze (pictured) was gunned down at a petrol station in a targeted assassination on Sunday evening.
Gamedze, a former football player, was chairman of Swazi Mobile, vice president of the National Football Association of Swaziland and the owner of Mbabane Swallows Football Club.
Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Cruiser Ngcamphalala issued a statement of condolences on behalf of King Mswati III and the entire football fraternity.
CCTV footage shows that Gamadze was shot twice at close range at a petrol station in Ezulwini, about eight kilometres from the capital Mbabane.
The killers fled the scene and according to a police spokesperson a silver grey Toyota Yaris which was later found abandoned near the border crossing with South Africa.
According to anonymous sources quoted in the Times of Swaziland, the assassination could be linked to a feud between business people involved in football.
Mbabane Swallows are Swaziland’s strongest team and Gamedze had been considering the idea of the Swazi champions joining the South African top flight.
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