Leemisa Thuseho
THE Lesotho Institutions Sport Association (LISA) has postponed its annual national ball games due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The games are held in August every year but LISA secretary general Posholi Posholi said the games would not go ahead this year.
“It is very sad that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we will not have the games this year,” Posholi told the Lesotho Times on Monday.
The games have now been moved to 2021 when it is expected to be safe to continue.
Lesotho has since March 2020 closed schools and all sporting events to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Posholi said even if the schools and sporting activities were to resume between August and September athletes who are still in school would not have adequate time to prepare for the games.
He said the postponement of the games was a huge blow to national sporting federation who depend on the event to scout young talent.
“It is going to be a challenge for national federations who use the games to select athletes for their international competitions like the upcoming African Union Sport Council Region 5 Games.”
The LISA ball games also serve as national qualification tournament for the annual Confederation of Schools Sports Association of Southern Africa (COSSASA) ball games.
This year, Botswana is meant to host the COSSASA games but it looks unlikely that the games will go ahead.
The COSSASA Athletics Games that were meant to be held in South Africa in April this year were also cancelled because of the pandemic.
