
The strategic plan is our own undertaking
The Lesotho Football Association started the new year with a bang as its academy established in collaboration with FIFA through the Talent Development Scheme, started its operations in Leribe, where the 33 boys scouted across the country commenced their academic journey at Sacred heart High School. The ground-breaking initiative was rolled-out early in 2023 in the Kingdom in search of talented young players to be given a chance to develop and reach full potential.
In this wide-ranging interview, the LeFA Media team sat down with Secretary General Mokhosi Mohapi to reflect on the highs and lows of the Association in 2024 as well as what lies ahead in 2025.
LM: Ntate Secretary General, Compliments of the New Year, which has started on a high note with the opening of the academy in Leribe
MM: Compliments to you and the football fraternity! Well, to be honest the Academy opening was but a culmination of some hard work which started the day the Lesotho Football Association started accessing the TDS funding. Remember the Academy is an advanced phase of the TDS project as offered by FIFA. The only difference is the manner in which the Lesotho started the project. Other MAs wait for FIFA funding, however, at LeFA we felt we should start on our own, in any case we are the custodians of football in the Kingdom and not FIFA, our mandate is clear, and we are following it as it is stated in the LeFA Statutes.
LM: This is a very huge project that has earned the Association praises from the football fraternity and Basotho at large. How proud are you that finally it has kicked off?
MM: Like the many projects small or big that the LeFA undertakes make me extremely proud. At this juncture I do not know how to differentiate between small and big, but what I know is that whenever there is some innovation from our international bodies, after it has been piloted, we immediately jumped onto the bandwagon provided it resonates with our strategic plan and purpose.
LM: The Academy is a collaboration of LeFA and FIFA who have been funding the Talent Development Scheme since it was rolled-out in 2023. Are you happy with the progress made scouting for young talent across the ten districts?
MM: I am extremely happy with progression of the TDS, I am even happier because the Technical Department, in particular Ntate Mohaila Letseka (TDS Manager) and his colleague, Mme Joalane Tongoane (Women Football desk) went out to run a parallel program for the boys TDS in the form of the girls TDS. This happened without FIFA funding, once again proving that we don’t have to wait for FIFA to fund initiatives which we can pursue as an organization. The reason being that our strategic plan for the current period dictates to us to seek to deliver a balance between men and women football initiatives and activities. The strategic plan is our own undertaking which we have committed ourselves to delivering its dictates to the best of our ability.
LM: These are very important programmes that you can say are the lifeblood of Lesotho football?
MM: I can’t help but to lament the slow progress of the grassroots programmes in the country. I do not think that there that level of commitment that has been shown regarding the other initiatives. It is for this reason that I am making a commitment on my part to ensure that if I have to kick butt I will do to ensure that the little ones get to benefit from the existence of LeFA in the Kingdom. I ensure that in every meeting I irk the Technical Department regarding the expediency of grassroots football. I know we can do way better than what we are offering now.
LM: LeFA didn’t only start the year on a high but also ended 2024 on a high as the Girls U-17 team reached the final of the COSAFA Under-17 Championship as debutants at regional tourney?
MM: The girls u-17 team was to me LeFA’s flagship team during the year 2024 without a shadow of doubt. In the past, girls’ football was in the doldrums until after the crafting of the current strategic plan. The partnership between LeFA and its organs namely; LISA and LEPSSA has begun showing signs of success. The team took part in three international competitions and brought home two bronze medals if my record serves me well. This is by no means a success, I don’t know if there is anything better considering that this was the very first year that the Lesotho u17 girls were enrolled in international competitions of this magnitude. The CAF Schools competition held in Namibia where the team won a bronze medal was a perfect prelude to the COSAFA u17 tournament. I so wish that the team can repeat this feat this year and see them qualify to the CAF u17 Girls AFCON.
LM: The attention is always on Likuena and Mehalalitoe who didn’t do that well at the COSAFA Cup both being eliminated in the group Stage. What needs to be done for them to perform well in the regional tournaments?
MM: There are a couple of solutions, on the side of Likuena we need to start as early as now to have a B Team that will obviously relieve Likuena of that burden of having to play all the Senior competitions that are available. The incoming Technical Director should ensure that he recommends coaches and a plan for the B Team at the earliest possible opportunity. Secondly, for the men senior team, our Government must come to the party, it can not be that someone who doesn’t like sport not only football, is given the ultra vires position of determining who qualifies to be a Mosotho and then be discretionary in terms of denying Basotho who have roots in Lesotho their right of determination. Well as for Mehalalitoe, I say this with heavy heart, as long as this team is not weaponized politically, it can perform wonders. That’s the least I ask for.
LM: Likuena came close to securing CHAN qualification but lost at the last hurdle to Angola but they are still in the race in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers?
MM: Technical and physical fatigue finally caught up with the team. Remember the team played a game every month, sometimes two, and it all started at the beginning of the year right through to the end of the year. The travel and training took its toll on everyone, fans, administrators alike. Nonetheless, we could have qualified for the CHAN, in fact, after dropping out of the AFCON, the CHAN ought to have been our solace. Isn’t funny and thought provoking that during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers we are performing better? Is it because of the contribution of the diaspora players or what? This is more than just a question.
LM: That goes to the other Junior teams as well. Bahlabani and Makoanyane and the Girls U-20 have done well in COSAFA tournaments in recent years?
MM: Like I said, and honestly so, something known to me and you resulted in the underperformance of these teams. From my understanding of sport, this was because the coaches and team personnel had something in mind different to ours as an organization. Let me be more open, some people wanted to succeed alone and not as a group, this doesn’t happen. It must be a team effort.
LM: LeFA has had a Women’s league running since 2015. Are you happy with the progress made thus far?
MM: I have mixed feelings. I think the league has way much potential than what is happening right now. Do we have the right people in the management committee? Is it a pet organization serving a different agenda to what football should be about? The moment other agenda rather than football is managed using football, things go pear-shaped. When the league was started, things went well, those of us who incubated the start of the that league can only hope that the founding dream and aspiration can be resuscitated. The league should not be a ramp where models strut their stuff, it should be about exposing football talent and building a proper product.
LM: The mid-season registration period has been very exciting with the so-called smaller clubs like Lijabatho raiding some of the big guns in the likes of Matlama and LCS for their best players. Will this improve the level of competition in the league?
MM: This is what football should be. It should bring excitement and prelude the start of the second half of the season. You make mention of Matlama, Lijabatho and LCS, ooh no, across all divisions. I always have a problem when we are seen to be talking within a limited bandwidth whereas we should be looking at the who setup. At the top, it has been busy, with a few days to go, there will be interesting movements locally and internationally. Peeping into the systems, I have seen some big-name players coming to join local teams and equally, so some big-name players are leaving our shores to the neighboring countries.
As to whether it will bring competition to the league or leagues, this depends on innovation on the part of the league managements. If there is no incentive to participate and compete, it will be business as usual, but if the league management innovates, then the transfers will have business sense.
LM: Whats in store for the football fraternity as far as LeFA is concerned?
MM: The local football fraternity should expect the continued nomadic situation regarding Likuena and the team that will win the league as they endeavor into the CAF games. I do not see any change at all. I am an optimist, but I have a problem with those who decide for us. Other than that, one has to challenge the league management committees to wake up and smell the coffee before the league environment gets too monotonous.
LM: The Association has appointed Mr. Caswell Moru as the new Technical Director replacing veteran technician Mr. Lehlohonolo Thotanyana. He surely has big shoes to fill?
MM: Well, this is an exciting appointment, one hopes he will hit the ground running. He has attended a meeting with Management, that should have given him a glance of the magnitude of the task he has undertaken. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge, but knowing can be deceiving if there is no actioning.
LM: How difficult has it been for the Association having to host international matches outside the country for almost five years now?
MM: It has been very difficult for everyone involved in the game. For one, we all have to be on the road more than we would like, travelling from the base here at the LeFA Headquarters to almost everywhere in South Africa; be it Durban, Bloemfontein and Gauteng, everywhere. Officials and players and some very loyal football supporters have been forced to sleep in hotels in instances where the local games would have never forced them to sleep away. This has added more pressure on the delivery of a number of the Associations activities due to the time spent away by key decision makers.
By now I am sure that very little will happen regarding the refurbishment of the Setsoto Stadium, but without a stadium where the National Team plays its home matches, there is a ripple effect of football famishment of the requisite funding from FIFA. The situation is still dire, but some of us who understand how governments work are well prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Government wants to sell a narrative that only the football turf is a problem, whereas the problem is the ailing infrastructure as it sits. Yes, we need the playing surface, but then without the other infrastructure, we are doomed for now.