By Boitumelo Koloi
MASERU — The Lesotho Football Association (Lefa)’s emergency congress that was fouled by police last week will now take place this weekend.
According to an order from the international soccer governing body Fifa, the meeting must go on before December 1, 2013 failing which there could be regrettable consequences.
Lefa’s Secretary, General Mokhosi Mohapi, confirmed that Fifa had ordered the national soccer governing body to “ensure the holding of the special conference before December 1 2013”.
According to Mohapi, the meeting will be held on Saturday in compliance with Fifa’s order.
Mohapi said failure to hold the much anticipated meeting could come at a very high cost.
“Failure to hold the meeting would force the Fifa Associations’ Committee to advise the Executive Committee to serve Lefa with a suspension letter,” Mokhosi said.
Last weekend’s edition of the special conference that was meant to convene in Maseru failed to take off after police stopped it.
According to the Maseru District Police Commissioner Senior Superintendent Mofokeng Kolo, the meeting was aborted because conveners had not complied with the requisite legal requirements — applying for a police permit to hold it.
Asked whether last week’s fate would not befall Saturday’s meeting, Mohapi said that “this one will go on”.
“We have written to the police to say that our meeting is going on this weekend and they have promised not to interfere with it,” Mohapi said.
Kolo confirmed that Saturday’s meeting will indeed go on.
“The meeting will go on, the convenors have a permit to that effect,” Kolo said.
The extra-ordinary Lefa congress will be a platform to decide on the future of the association’s second vice-president, Lebohang Thotanyana, following accusations that he had leaked information that implicates Phafane in a vote-buying scam in the run-up to the Lefa presidential elections.
Phafane was implicated in a vote-buying scam in which he allegedly paid around M17 000 to entertain a delegation of 25 representatives of the eight District Football Associations in an attempt to coax them to vote in his favour.
