Fresh from securing the A Division League Southern Stream championship, Kick4Life Lesotho has announced that its men’s football club, Kick4Life Juventude FC, will not accept promotion to the Lesotho Premier League, and will instead withdraw completely from the men’s football structures under the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA).
In a statement, the organisation confirmed that the decision was made to safeguard its long-standing mission of helping young Basotho student-athletes secure international university scholarships through football.
The announcement comes as a surprise to many football followers, particularly after the club’s successful campaign earned them promotion to the country’s top-flight league.
According to Kick4Life, participation in the Premier League would jeopardise the eligibility of its players to access scholarship opportunities in the United States.
“Moving forward, we will continue running the Kick4Life Academy for boys and girls, and our women’s team will continue competing in the Women’s Super League,” the organisation stated.
Kick4Life further revealed that its men’s academy teams will continue to participate in friendly matches, international tournaments and competitions organised by the organisation itself.
The organisation said the decision followed extensive consultations with major American collegiate sports governing bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
Following their title-winning season, Kick4Life sought clarification from the NCAA regarding whether recent changes involving Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) regulations would allow players to compete in the Lesotho Premier League while retaining their scholarship eligibility.
However, the NCAA is reported to have confirmed that Premier League participation would immediately render players ineligible for NCAA scholarships. The NAIA also advised that players would lose one year of collegiate eligibility for every year spent playing in the Lesotho Premier League.
Kick4Life Co-Founder Pete Fleming described the decision as painful but necessary.
“It is extremely disappointing for our players and coaches that we are unable to accept the promotion which they earned, but the mission of Kick4Life is to provide life-changing student-athlete scholarships for young Basotho, and that cannot be achieved by playing in the Premier League, as players will lose their eligibility as soon as they step on the pitch,” Fleming said.
He added that the club’s latest promotion demonstrates the effectiveness of the academy model.
“The fact we achieved another promotion is evidence of our enormously successful Academy model and we are proud of the players and coaches for their fantastic achievement. We are excited about this new model for our men’s Academy players and team, and we are fully committed to continue developing young male and female student-athletes.”
Co-founder Steve Fleming said the organisation also considered the wider implications of remaining within the league system while repeatedly rejecting promotions.
“In making this decision we recognised the challenges of remaining in the league system whilst rejecting promotions, and the potential impact this has on other teams and the system in general. This also influenced our decision to withdraw from the men’s football pyramid,” he said.
He assured players and stakeholders that the organisation would continue supporting athletes through scholarship pathways, football opportunities at other clubs, academic support programmes, work experience placements and paid employment opportunities.
However, Kick4Life Country Director Motlatsi Nkhahle said the organisation’s football development programme will continue to thrive despite the withdrawal from LeFA men’s competitions.
Nkhahle explained that the focus will now shift towards academy development through friendly matches and tournaments involving both local and international academies and football clubs.
“We are going to create and develop tournaments for the academy with other local and international academies and football clubs. We have always participated in these friendly tournaments as a way to improve and develop our Under-15, Under-17 and Under-21 teams,” Nkhahle said.
He stressed that the technical team would remain intact and that only the boys’ participation in LeFA competitions would cease.
“We are keeping our technical team; hence everything is going to run smoothly except that we have exited LeFA football structures with our boys’ clubs. However, the girls’ club will not be affected by this change.”
Nkhahle further disclosed that Kick4Life has already arranged a friendly match against the LeFA Academy in Leribe and will continue playing friendly fixtures against clubs such as Matlama FC, Lijabatho FC and Likulo FC.
Meanwhile, LeFA has outlined how it will manage the changes resulting from Kick4Life’s withdrawal.
In a letter addressed to the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC), A Division Management Committee (ADMACO), B and C Division committees and other football structures, a copy of which was seen by this publication, LeFA confirmed that Villa FC will take the vacant Premier League place.
Villa FC finished runners-up to Kick4Life Juventude in the A Division South Stream during the 2025/26 season and will now compete in the Premier League in the 2026/27 campaign.
“Following extensive consultations, the decision has been reached that Villa FC, as runners-up in the A Division League South Stream, be promoted to the Premier League for the 2026/27 season to fill the vacancy created by Kick4Life’s withdrawal,” LeFA said.
The association further resolved that AC TIP FC be promoted from the B Division to the A Division League to occupy the space left by Villa FC. AC TIP FC had finished third in the recently concluded national B Division playoffs alongside Butha-Buthe Warriors and Mahlaseli FC.
Summary
- Fresh from securing the A Division League Southern Stream championship, Kick4Life Lesotho has announced that its men’s football club, Kick4Life Juventude FC, will not accept promotion to the Lesotho Premier League, and will instead withdraw completely from the men’s football structures under the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA).
- “It is extremely disappointing for our players and coaches that we are unable to accept the promotion which they earned, but the mission of Kick4Life is to provide life-changing student-athlete scholarships for young Basotho, and that cannot be achieved by playing in the Premier League, as players will lose their eligibility as soon as they step on the pitch,” Fleming said.
- “In making this decision we recognised the challenges of remaining in the league system whilst rejecting promotions, and the potential impact this has on other teams and the system in general.
Seabata Mahao is a general news reporter with special focus on Business and Sports. Started working at Newsday in 2021. Working in a team with a shared goal is what I enjoy most and that gives me the motivation to work under any environment leading to growth.
