Mikia Kalati
MASERU — Telecommunications giants, Vodacom Lesotho, on Thursday pledged to continue sponsoring football in the country.
The company’s managing director, Ian Ferroa, told football fans at the Vodacom premier league awards ceremony at Maseru Sun Hotel that talks with the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) for a new sponsorship deal are continuing.
“I just want to allay the fears of the football fraternity by announcing that Vodacom Lesotho has no intention of pulling out of football regardless of what has been said,” Ferrao said.
“We are still in talks with Lefa on how best we can improve the standards of the game in this country.”
He said their dream is to see the standards of the game improving and help the Lesotho league be among the best.
Ferrao urged those in football administration not to let politics kill the potential that football has in this country.
“It will be really good in the future to see these players coming from Lesotho making it big and playing in the big leagues around Europe and that can only be achieved if we work together to improve the game,” Ferrao said.
The telecommunications company has been sponsoring football since 2008.
Since 2010 Vodacom Lesotho has been pumping M1 million into the premier league and the Vodacom Spectacular tournament every season.
Ferrao also congratulated the winners of the individual awards for the 2012-13 premier league awards.
Lefa second vice-president, Lebohang Thotanyana, thanked the telecommunications company for their continued support to help improve the standards of football in the country.
“The game in our country has grown a lot.
“We all witnessed a change that saw our stadiums filled to full capacity during some of the big matches last season,” Thotanyana said.
“That was an indication that we are in the right direction and it is all thanks to Vodacom.”
Thotanyana, who is also the premier league chairman, said the biggest challenge for local clubs is to take the initiative to help improve the standards of the game.
“Talks for the renewal of the contract are still ongoing because of the things we did last year and the ball is in our court as clubs to correct them as the sponsor are also expecting a good return from us,” said Thotonyana.
The new league season roars into life on August 24.
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