Moorosi Tsiane

HARDLY two months after his historic debut appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Lesotho’s top assistant referee Souru Phatšoane is set to break another record by becoming the first Mosotho to officiate in a soccer World Cup.

Phatšoane is expected to officiate at the Under-17 World Cup finals in Brazil from 26 October to 17 November 2019.

The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) announced the news in a recent statement.

“After becoming the first Mosotho male referee to officiate at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Lesotho’s top assistant referee Souru Phatšoane is on the brink of yet another milestone having been appointed to officiate at the upcoming Under-17 World Cup in Brazil from 26 October to 17th November,” the statement reads.

“He will, in the process, become the first referee from Lesotho to officiate at a World Cup tournament.”

Phatšoane, who is currently in eSwatini where he was officiating in a CAF Confederations Cup match between Young Buffalos and Buildcon of Zambia yesterday said he was happy with his appointment.

“I am really out of words at the moment. I am just happy with this appointment but at the moment nothing has been said officially because I still have to fill in my confirmation. However, I am happy.

“I am in eSwatini now where I will be officiating in a Confederation Cup match tomorrow (yesterday) and I will attend to all this when I return,” the humble Phatšoane said.

He said he was happy that he had been chose out of thousands of assistant referees on the continent to officiate at the prestigious tournament.

“Every referee at some point wants to be part of such big tournaments and I am so happy with the opportunity that I have been given especially given the number of assistant referees we have on the continent.

“Although I am putting in a lot of work, I am sometimes surprised by the milestones that I achieve. However, this encourages me to keep working hard and achieve even bigger things,” Phatšoane said.