Leemisa Thuseho
LESOTHO will not be represented in this year’s Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Women’s Champions League (WCL).
The championships will be held in Durban, South Africa from 7 to 13 August. The draw for the competition was conducted on Wednesday in Morocco.
The tournament will act as zonal qualifiers for the 2022 TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Champions League to be staged in Morocco later this year.
Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) media officer, Mikia Kalati, confirmed that the country will not be represented in this year’s COSAFA WCL.
Kalati said this was because Lesotho did not have a domestic women’s league last season.
“Yes, we don’t have a team to represent us in the COSAFA Women’s Champions League because we didn’t have a league last season. This means we’re not participating in this year’s competition,” he said.
Last year, the Women Super League Management under the auspices of LeFA failed to run the league due to challenges induced by Covid-19 pandemic.
They instead, organised a tournament which was won by the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF). But that didn’t qualify them for the regional championships since it is meant for teams that win the league in their respective countries.
South African side Mamelodi Sundowns have been drawn in Group A alongside Costa do Sol from Mozambique and Botswana’s Double Action Ladies.
Mamelodi Sundowns are the defending COSAFA and continental champions after they lifted both trophies last year.
Green Buffaloes (Zambia), Young Buffaloes (Eswatini) and Olympique de Moroni (Comoros) make up Group B.
The winner from each group will advance to the finals, while the second-placed teams will battle it out for the bronze medal.
Double Action Ladies, and Green Buffaloes make a return after participating in last year’s tournament while Young Buffaloes, Costa do Sol and Comoros representatives Olympic de Moroni are making their debut appearance.
The participating teams qualified for the COSAFA WCL after winning domestic leagues in their respective countries last season.