Leemisa Thuseho
BANTU and Kick4Life have been drawn against each other in the Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top8 tournament which commences on Saturday.
The draw and launch were held yesterday at Bambatha Tšita Sport Arena.
The seventh edition of the annual tournament will be played at Maputsoe DiFA Ground and Setsoto Stadium.
The tournament is sponsored to the tune of M1 million by LNIG with the winner walking away with M100 000.
The runners-up in the senior competition will walk away with M80 000 while the third and fourth-placed teams will pocket M60 000 and M50 000 respectively.
All the remaining teams will pocket M30 000 each.
This year, an under-17 category has also been introduced for all teams that qualified for the tournament. The under-17 winners will earn M10 000 while the runners-up will get M8 000. The third-placed side gets M6 000 while the rest of the contestants will get M2 500 each.
Bantu take on Kick4Life in the first tie while at Setsoto Stadium on Saturday while Liphakoe lock horns with Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) at the same venue later in the day.
LioLi take on tournament defending champions-Lesotho Defence LDF on Sunday at Maputsoe DiFA Ground before LMPS clash with Matlama afterwards.
Speaking at the launch, LNIG managing director Ralitapole Letsoela said they were happy to continue their partnership with the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC).
“We are happy to continue with the sponsorship and this means is a sign that the tournament has a solid foundation,” Letsoela said.
He also said they would engage other sponsors if the need arose while also pledging that they would continue renewing the contract if all parties continued to fulfill their respective mandates.
“We renewed the sponsorship this year and we will continue renew if things continue the way they are,” he said.
PLMC chairperson Ikarabelle Sello said they were happy to have retained the sponsorship for this long.
He added the assurance that the sponsorship contract would be renewed in future had given them comfort.
Individual Prizes
Player of the tournament – M3 000
Top goal scorer – M3 000
Goalkeeper of the tournament – M2 000
Coach of the tournament – M2 000
Referee of the tournament – M2 500
Assistant Referee of the tournament – M1 500
Man of the match – M1000 x 4
