Leemisa Thuseho
METROPOLITAN Lesotho and Basutoland Ink this week handed over home and away kits to five Econet Premier League teams who were without technical sponsors.
The kits were handed over in Maseru to Lijabatho, Swallows, Liphakoe, Lifofane and Sefotha-fotha.
Basutoland Ink injected M65 000 for the away playing gear while Metropolitan spent M500 000 for the home kit and up to 100 replicas for each team.
The two companies announced and launched the sponsorship deal last November.
Basutoland Ink director Bokang Kheekhe said the handover was delayed by Covid-19 induced challenges that they faced earlier this year.
“We feel honoured to be part of this deal… we were inspired by Metropolitan and we decided to join them by sponsoring the teams with away kits and we thank the football family for giving us this opportunity to contribute to the growth of local football,” Kheekhe said.
He said they were happy to be part of the deal as it will stimulate the growth of his company.
“If football grows, our companies will also grow and we will be able to hire more people thereby positively impacting the economy.”
For her part, Metropolitan managing director ‘Mamello Phomane said they were excited about the initiative.
“We hope the sponsorship will increase the teams’ competitiveness in the league.
“We have been supporting sports for a long time and we were able to do this only because of Basotho’s support. Therefore, we are also giving back to the community.
“We will keep on investing in sport as long as the business is good,” Phomane said.
On behalf of the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa), Premier League Management Committee (PLMC) president Ikarabello Sello thanked the two companies for contributing towards the growth of football.
He also expressed gratitude to the PLMC for bringing on board sponsors as mandated by LeFA.
“One of the PLMC’s task is to help grow local football and we are happy to bring on board the two sponsors.
“We are also aware that the forthcoming season is going to be challenging as teams will be playing without spectators and that means they will no longer pocket gate takings. Therefore, we have already started talking to some sponsors on how they can help,” Sello said.
