Moorosi Tsiane
THE Vodacom Premier League will finally resume this week ending the four months’ break on the back of Covid-19 lockdowns.
The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) in January this year suspended football activities in a bid to arrest the spread of Covid-19. The suspension was immediately followed by the government’s lockdown restrictions that same month.
Without doubt, it has been a difficult four months for players and teams who have continued hoping for the resumption of soccer action.
Not only do they love the game but thousands of people rely on football for survival whether they are players, officials or somewhere along the values chain.
With teams affording just portions of salaries, it was indeed a difficult time for players and officials.
It was even worse given that most teams rely on gate takings for revenue, therefore the suspension of soccer activities adversely affected their bottom lines.
While football is returning, a lot will be different as teams are going to play congested matches. Some will play as many as three matches weekly, a new feat for our players.
The Premier League Management Committee (PLMC) is trying to push for the league to be completed latest by early September to give teams a few weeks’ break before the commencement of the 2021/22 season.
I’m aware that the opinions were split with some suggesting that it was already too late to resume action for this season. They opined it would be tough to complete the remaining fixtures. Both sides made plausible arguments.
In the end, the PLMC had to make a decision and they made a bold one at it. I honestly think this was a sober move because teams couldn’t continue paying players who were not playing. On the other hand, players were also struggling because of the reduced income.
Now that the league is returning with supporters attending matches, there will obviously an improvement in their welfare.
This might not be what most expected their season to be but at the end of the day, Covid-19 or not; life must go on. The pandemic is certainly here for longer than expected and lives must adjust.
Let the games begin!
