Moorosi Tsiane
There is a lot of excitement in the country ahead of this week’s snap national elections and as a sports stakeholder, it also crossed my mind that the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) will also be holding its presidential elections later in the year.
It is the norm in any election, including in sport, that aspirants step forward and canvass for votes.
And one would have thought this would be the case with LeFA by now and we would be seeing candidates throwing their hats into the ring.
LeFA is made up of the following bodies: All Districts Football Associations, Lesotho Primary Schools Sport Association, Football Coaches Association of Lesotho, Referees Association of Lesotho, Women’s National Football Committee, Lesotho Universities and College Sports Association, Premier League, Lesotho Institutions Sports Association and any other body admitted by the Lesotho Football Association under its statutes.
All these send their representative(s) to vote at the LeFA elections on the set date.
The current LeFA president, Advocate Salemane Phafane KC has been in the hot seat since 2004 in the aftermath of the death of the then president Thabo Makakole.
It will be his fourth term if he decides to run.
The football mother body usually goes to national executive polls every four years and the presidential elections the following year.
It is still not clear whether Phafane will seek re-election and nothing has being said about him leaving as well.
There have been several positives as well as challenges during his tenure as is the case with any organisation.
It is however, my submission that new blood is needed in that position to inject fresh ideas.
The biggest challenge however, is whether there are any potential successors lining up to challenge Phafane who beat former second vice president Lebohang Thotanyana by 37 votes to 12 in the previous elections.
Former premier league boss, Tlholo Letete was barred from contesting those elections, leaving Thotanyana as Phafane’s only challenger.
Premier league boss Leuta Leuta has been touted by some as a potential candidate for position but the Bantu boss has remained mum on the issue.
So the million dollar question is whether we have a potential candidates.
And it is a question that will only be answered in the fullness of time.