Moorosi Tsiane
IT’S almost three months since the Vodacom Premier League (VPL) was suspended by the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) on account of the Covid-19 restrictions at the time.
The restrictions were however, reduced a fortnight ago when contact sports were allowed to resume.
The Premier League Management Committee (PLMC) has since tabled proposal to LeFA. But according to the association’s secretary general, Mokhosi Mohapi, the national executive committee is yet to deliberate on.
When the league was suspended, most VPL teams had played only two of their second-round matches. Matlama were atop the table while defending champions, Bantu, were second.
Teams are dying a slow death ever since the outbreak of the virus which has forced the consistent suspension of league activities and the barring of supporters from the grounds.
Premier league teams survive mostly on gate takings and if supporters are barred from attending matches, then they will not get any revenue.
Players and administrators alike have been struggling to survive as some teams have resorted to cutting salaries.
The teams and the PLMC have requested that the league be abolished and they be given time to prepare for the new season which they are proposing must start next month.
While I am in no position to say whether or not the league should be abolished, I think LeFA should decide what should happen. The decision must be made as soon as possible and teams must be informed on time.
Teams are struggling and leaving them to guess what the future holds is not helping the situation. It must be clear whether or not they should prepare for the new season.
If the situation continues as is, by the time the games are allowed to resume, teams will not be having any players at their disposal. This because players have needs and the moment football fails to satisfy those needs, then they stop sticking around. Even more worrying is when the teams are failing to satisfy their contractual obligations.
These are the issues that I feel LeFA should be looking into. They must be trying to come up with means of helping the teams because at the end of the day, there is no LeFA without football teams.
