Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) has suspended all football competitions with immediate effect following the Prime Minister (PM) Dr. Moeketsi Majoro’s speech with which he imposed new restrictions to put the
Covid-19 situation at bay. The PM announced that all contact sports are prohibited while non-contact sports can continue with no spectators and limited number of
players as the country moves from blue to purple colour coding stage. LeFA Secretary General (SG) Mokhosi Mohapi said the restrictions are aimed to reduce the increasing Covid-19
infections encountered in the past days. “LeFA supports the government’s efforts to fight the spread of Covid-19 to save lives of the football players.
The announcement made by the Prime Minister resolved to indefinitely suspend all competitions under the auspices of LeFA until further information is released by the association upon the advice of Government,” said Mohapi.
Mohapi, therefore urged the soccer clubs to suspend all group trainings until further notice. He stated that LeFA President Salemane Phafane King’s Counsel (KC) and the Executive Committee wish all the clubs good health in this
trying times; urging the entire football fraternity to practise all Covid-19 mitigation protocols. Premier League Committee Management (PLMC) Communications
and Media Manager, Qamako Mahao also confirmed that the league has been put on hold until further notice. Meanwhile the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC)
Communications and Media Manager (CMM) Qamako Mahao had indicated in an interview with Informative Newspaper last week that 16 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the premier league, with Matlama recording the highest
number of 11 members. Matlama like any other premier league teams underwent the process of testing its players, technical team and Executive committee as the
teams were instructed to undergo Covid-19 testing before the next round of matches commence. LeFA made this request as to collect the Covid-19 medical
reports from elite teams so that the decision to resume or prematurely stop the league will be made based on the analysis of the given reports. The non-contact sports like chess, cricket, table tennis and
pool are also allowed to continue in the country. Chess Federation of Lesotho (CFL) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Selatela Khiba told Informative Sport that
even though contact sports like rugby and soccer are prohibited due to an increase of Covid-19 in the country, the chess sport and related activities are
not affected. He said CFL is also planning to hold the Opening Spring chess tournament. “The tournament is scheduled for this coming weekend even though
the venue is not yet finalised, this Opening Spring Chess tournament is open to everyone but the participants must register first as to allow for preparations
and accommodation of players who will take part. “As the national chess federation, we are working very hard to abide by Covid-19 regulations. We introduced the
safety measures such as sanitizing the chess pieces, the tables, players and the chess board after every round as to prevent further spread of this ongoing
pandemic of Covid-19,” Khiba said. Lesotho Cricket Association Media Liaison Officer Clifford Molefe also indicated that cricket competitions are still taking place as the sport
is non-contact. He mentioned that the competitions are taking place without supporters as advised during the public address on Thursday. He further mentioned that All Stars cricket team played against Hlotse II and Leribe
cricket club against Linare cricket club at Leribe district stream. Molefe explained that the semi-final of the cricket league will take place here in Maseru district at Pitso Ground this coming weekend.
