The T\u0161enola born was on Friday announced as the winner of the Referee of the Year Award at the glittering ceremony attended by the who’s who of the sports industry in the Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Phat\u0161oane bagged the award after yet another fulfilling 2024, where he officiated at the Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote D\u2019Ivoire up to the quarterfinals, which was his third in a row as well as the second final of the CAF Champions League.<\/p>\n
He joined a small group of referees to have earned appointments to handle two finals of the biggest club competition in the continent.<\/p>\n
Phat\u0161oane’s busy schedule on continental assignments continued throughout 2024 as he officiated in both the CAF Interclub Competitions in the Champions League and the Confederations Cup, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers, African Nations Championship as well as the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.<\/p>\n
“This Award to be honest represents the support I have been getting from my mother body to have achieved all that I have in my career,” Phat\u0161oane said.<\/p>\n
“It’s the kind of support that a Referee needs to be at the high level and be able to perform as expected and I truly appreciate the assistance and support I always get from LeFA.”<\/p>\n
Phat\u0161oane\u2019s career has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years becoming the first referee from Lesotho to officiate the finals of CAF major tournaments from the Confederations Cup, CAF Champions League, the CAF Super Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.<\/p>\n
He also inked his name in the history books of football in the country when he was appointment among referees to officiate at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where he became the first Mosotho to officiate at the global showpiece.<\/p>\n
His remarkable journey in refereeing has seen him become the first Lesotho Football Association referee to officiate at the Olympic games after he was selected among match officials for the Tokyo games in 2021.