Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) together with MYLOAN have launched a new kit sponsorship for Premier League referees. The new deal means from now on, the top-flight’s 30 registered referees will be neatly dressed in MYLOAN attire during match-days for the next three years.
The attire is a full kit that includes shirts, shorts as well as tracksuits, and it is worth M360 000 in total. The deal is a first of its kind and was launched on Tuesday at the Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena.
Speaking at the launch, MYLOAN acting managing director, Moliehi Motsoaoli, said the company wanted to take a different route and support referees after realising that many sponsors in football are focused on teams or competitions instead.
Motsoaoli said MYLOAN also felt compelled to join in supporting football because it is a tool that brings people together and helps even those without a school education to avoid becoming entangled in illegal activities.
“Football has brought a lot of people together and has helped keep people out of trouble. We looked into football and most of the sponsors are looking at football itself, and we wanted to focus on referees,” she said.
MYLOAN Limited was established in 2018 by Tale Maila and his wife Sefakoana Letele with the aim of delivering a range of financial products that meet the needs of the “underserved markets in Lesotho.
Speaking at the handover, the secretary general of the Lesotho Referees Committee, Retšelisitsoe Molise, thanked LEFA for reaching the agreement with MYLOAN and said he hopes the relationship can grow as the years pass.
Senior referee Lebalang Mokete, meanwhile, urged his colleagues to go to the fields and work even harder now that they have new attire. Mokete said the attire the referees need is expensive and they are happy that they have been met halfway.
For his part, LEFA’s secretary general, Mokhosi Mohapi, urged referees to get together and come up with sustainable projects and think about life beyond football.
“I wish that when the first round of this partnership ends that the referees will have learnt something.
Our referees get allowances match by match, I don’t think they should spend impulsively when they are in a partnership with a company like this,” Mohapi said.
“Think of life beyond football, get together and take out loans for certain projects and make sure by the end of this tenure you can say this is what we did,” he added before turning his words to the sponsors.
“MYLOAN, since you cannot teach (the referees) how to officiate, you can give them financial literacy. Invest in these men and women in refereeing and give them financial literacy,” Mohapi said.
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