Chris Theko
Playoffs are set to take place to determine which team will occupy the vacant position in the Vodacom Premier League left by Kick4Life.
The revelation was confirmed by the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) Secretary General, Mokhosi Mohapi, on Thursday in an interview with Newsday Sport.
Naughty Boys in the Southern Stream and Limkokwing University in the Northern Stream will lock horns in the battle for the top position to fill the vacant spot.
“We are going to hold playoffs which will determine who gets to play in the premier league. Those playoffs will be played at a yet-to-be-confirmed date and venue by the two teams which finished last season in the second position of their respective A-Division Streams,†Mohapi said.
“LeFA hopes the situation that has just transpired leading to the current situation serves as a lesson to our football clubs. Proper management is crucial and it is always emphasised in different courses we organize. Those trainings are meant to help clubs with skills to manage and resolve technical and administrative issues,†he added.
Mohapi stated that the expectation is that the lower division, B-Division, will also have playoffs of a similar nature to determine which team gets promoted to the A-Division to close the gap left by the winning team.
The arrangement by LeFA follows the recent decision by Kick4Life to withdraw its stance of selling their premier league status to Majantja.
The club announced towards the end of last season that they were not going to be part of the premier league this coming season, citing the decision to focus on women football and development teams.
Majantja was one of the teams that rushed to propose to buy the status, and it would seem the deal was done until the Mohapi advised that for proper procedure, Majantja has to register as Kick4Life for the upcoming season, however, Kick4Life shun the advice citing their name does not only bare the football club but an institution.
Kick4life has since returned the money (M180 000) they had received from Majantja as payment for the Vodacom Premier League (VPL) status.
Kick4Life released a state confirming the lapsed deal and the institution’s stance to withdraw from the men’s football activities.
“We had hoped to sell our men’s Premier league club status, whilst retaining full ownership of our name which is connected to a much wider institution, and a provisional deal was struck with Majantja who sent us funds in respect of the sale. However, without a written guarantee that registration of the club could go ahead without the name of Kick4Life being used or immediately change, we felt unable to go ahead. The funds were returned. We understand there were reasons why this guarantee could not be provided and we do not blame any party for the failure of the deal,†the statement read.
Majantja Public Relations Officer, Lehlohonolo Moeketse, expressed disappointment saying their dream was shuttered.
“…but we take it as a motivation to go and work hard for our promotion to the premier league.
“The state of affairs is disappointing to us the management, the supporters but most importantly to the funders who had put money into this initiative to acquire a premier league status,†Moeketse said.
“We are disappointed but we go back to the A-division to fight for the promotion because the situation has motivated us to. Sadly, the situation has a negative impact on football because Majantja hosted trials, we bought players and some were still in negotiations looking to play in the premier league, but it has collapsed and we move on,†concluded Moeketse.
