Moorosi Tsiane

BANTU coach Bob Mafoso has broken his silence on the prospects of winning his first title as head coach of the Mafeteng outfit.

When the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) halted football activities in March this year, Bantu were leading the 14-team league table with 50 points from 18 matches while second-placed Matlama had 34 points.

A Matšo Matebele were only three matches away from winning the championship but the matches could not be played due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

LeFA decided to end the soccer season in its current state. The decision was fiercely opposed by Matlama, who went on to appeal the decision at the Dispute and Protests Committee (DISPROCO).

DISPROCO dismissed the matter and Matlama took the matter to the appeal board which also threw out the matter. Afterwards, Matlama took up the matter with the arbitration court which is yet to hear the matter.

This means Bantu will only be crowned after the arbitration court hears the matter.

But Mafoso on Friday told the Sunday Express that he was confident that his side would have still won the title even if they had waited to play all games.

Bantu had been on pole position from day one and were yet to lose a match. They beat all league teams save for the defending champions Matlama with whom they drew twice.

“No one knew that the league would be interrupted and all teams had worked hard for what they have achieved,” Mafoso said.

“We beat all teams except for Matlama and it has always been my philosophy to amass as many points as possible instead of revelling in beating top teams only and I am happy that is what we did.”

Mafoso said his side was poised for glory considering that Matlama were dropping points while Bantu kept stretching their lead.

“We were left with playing eight matches and we were enjoying a massive 16 points lead and if you look at the two games played prior to the break, we had won while Matlama had drawn both. We never wanted the season to end midway… but given our record this season, we certainly deserve to be the champions,” Mafoso said.