Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) has distributed food parcels to 150 athletes identified from the 30 National Sports Federations (NFs) on Friday.
The Committee had received Covid-19 relief fund from the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) aimed to assist the affected athletes.
LNOC acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ‘Mathato Makhorole indicated that last year the committee had a meeting with the NFs informing them that LNOC is
seeking benefits to assist athletes during this trying times of Covid-19 pandemic. She said LNOC received M35 000 and bought knitted, branded face masks
and food parcels. “5 players in every federation will receive food parcels and face masks and the administrators will also receive face masks. LNOC has also
received a portion of money that will help the players who are preparing to go for the Olympics under the program called “back to play,” Makhorole stated.
NFs Representative Advocate Teboho Masimong showed that the federations’ hope will be restored with this support. “We will work hard and perform well at the
upcoming Olympic Games scheduled to be held this year,” he noted. Also, sports task team committee member and Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) Secretary
General (SG) Litšitso Motšeremeli said the sports administration has to turn sport into a professional career because it gives people an opportunity to live
healthy lifestyles, build their bodies and earn an income. He encouraged LNOC management not to catch fish for the players because once they do, the players
will develop a dependency syndrome on the Committee. He advised; “Teach players how to fish”. “I request the players and administrators to adhere to Covid-19
rules and regulations set by the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC) so that sports can be allowed to be fully operational,” Motšeremeli stated. LNOC
President ‘Matlohang Moiloa-Ramoqopu took over to inform that LNOC’s mandate is notably known as catering for Olympic games, and improving people’s lives through sports.
“The players’ lives are more important to the committee because with the players, we have this existing Olympic movement.
Therefore the committees’ task is to ensure that the players’ lives are safe and they are healthy,” she said. Ramoqopu added that the sports mother bodies have already prepared the space for the
players and the administrators to be vaccinated when the country is ready to vaccinate the remaining population. “We have realized that there is no sports
without the players and we are aware that there are some challenges caused by the pandemic that they come across during their trainings, such as poverty,” she said.
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