Moorosi Tsiane

BANTU duo of defender Itumeleng Falene and goalkeeper Thabo Sedisa will finally play competitive football after a full year watching from the stands following their long pending registration case at FIFA.

The duo was among the four players who Bantu was ordered to deregister after it was discovered that they had been improperly registered for the 2017/18 season.

The other two players were Pheko Molaoa (midfielder) and defender Phumoha Matsipa, who are no longer with the team.

The players were deregistered after Lioli had protested that Bantu fielded unlawfully registered players in their league match in December 2017.

Lioli was eventually awarded three points and three goals from that match as the four said players were indeed found to have been incorrectly registered.

The four players could not be registered last season as they still had unresolved issues but Bantu made efforts to register them during the just ended transfer window but had failed to acquire their International Transfer Certificates (ITC).

And on Friday, Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) secretary general Mokhosi Mohapi announced that the duo’s ITC request had been approved and Bantu can now register the players.

“FIFA has given a greenlight for two Bantu players Falene and Sedisa to be registered after a year on the sidelines due to the registration irregularities…we wish them well,” Mohapi said.

On his part, Bantu president Leuta Leuta said the players have already been registered and were only waiting for clearance from FIFA before they could start playing.

“We have already registered the players but we were waiting for FIFA to clear them and release their ITCs. However, now they are fully registered and are eligible to play for us when the season starts next weekend,” Leuta said.