Moroke Sekoboto
THE Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) has begun the hunt for fired national team, Likuena, head coach Leslie Notši’s replacement.
The national football governing body is also seeking new coaches for both the male and female U20 and U17 soccer national teams.
LeFA last week announced that it was releasing all its male and female national team coaches when their contracts end at the end of this month.
The only coach to be spared was the Lesotho senior women’s national team head coach, Shalane Lehohla, who remained behind to lead the team into the next Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Women’s Championship, expected to be held early next year.
Notši was released alongside his technical team of assistant coaches; Bafokeng Mohapi, Abraham Mongoya, and goalkeepers coach Samuel Ketsekile.
LeFA Secretary General, Mokhosi Mohapi, told the Lesotho Times that all the coaches were informed earlier that their engagement would end by the end of December.
He said, among other reasons, the changes are part of broader efforts to align coach appointments with the vision of the association’s new leadership.
“What we are trying to do is to ensure that the appointment of coaches aligns with the vision of the new leadership,” Mohapi said.
The reshuffle follows the election of Lijane Nthunya as LeFA president in October, ending the long tenure of former president Advocate Salemane Phafane KC.
Mohapi, in an interview last week, said that securing a new senior coach for Likuena ahead of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers in March next year, was crucial.
An advertisement inviting applications for suitably qualified coaches was published on Monday this week on LeFa’s official Facebook page.
“The Lesotho Football Association hereby invites applications from suitably qualified coaches for the vacant position of Head Coach for the Lesotho Men Senior National Team, Likuena. The Lesotho Football Association hereby invites applications from suitably qualified coaches for the vacant positions of Head Coaches of the Lesotho Junior Teams; Boys U20 and U17 as well as Girls U17,” the advert read.
The deadline for the submission of applications is 31 December 2025.
Likuena failed to progress beyond the group stages at the COSAFA Cup in June in South Africa and had a disappointing 2026 World Cup qualification campaign. The team also failed to qualify for the AFCON competition which gets underway in Morocco next week.
LeFA had warned the Likuena technical team that their tenure would end soon after the World Cup qualifiers though Notši had subsequently remained as coach in the two international friendly games against Malawi played after those qualifiers.
Mohapi clarified that the contracts for all coaches, save for that of Lehohla, had been terminated immediately to avoid potential automatic extensions which could attract legal hurdles for LeFA in future.
“We decided to end the contracts now because if, in any way, coaches submit programmes by 1 January and one of the officials inadvertently responds, it would constitute an automatic extension of their engagement on the same terms. By terminating now, we avoid any such liability.”
