By Moorosi Tsiane
MASERU — The Premier League Top 8 competition which was suspended for the past four years finally comes to life this weekend at the Setsoto stadium in Maseru.
The tournament, which is sponsored by insurance giants Lesotho National Insurance Group to the tune of M300 000 will see the country’s best eight clubs battle for the coveted M40 000 prize money.
The last edition of the tournament was played in 2010 with Lioli beating Matlama in the final after which the competition was put on hold due to lack of sponsorship.
The runners up to the competition will go home M30 000 richer while the third and fourth placed teams will pocket M25 000 and M20 000 respectively.
The nine times premier league champions, Matlama will face stiff competition when they take on defending league champions, Lioli while Linare has been drawn against top of the table Bantu, Likhopo will take on LCS and LMPS is set to lock horns with LDF in the quarter final matches.
The competition will start with two-legged quarter finals with the second leg set to be played next weekend.
Semi finals and finals are set to take place on February 23rd and 24th respectively.
The teams that will be eliminated in the preliminary stage will each pocket a consolation fee of M12 500 with each of the participating teams billed to receive a branded playing kit from LNIG.
LNIG chief executive officer, Ralitapole Letšoela, said the sponsorship will run for the next five years and they are determined to extend the relationship further should all the stakeholders accord the competition the seriousness it deserves.
“We will be sponsoring the tournament for 5 years but we are eager to continue with the sponsorship if all the stakeholders give the competition the respect it deserves,” Letsoela said.
