{"id":28528,"date":"2023-05-10T08:44:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T08:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out"},"modified":"2023-05-10T09:28:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T09:28:53","slug":"top-referee-frozen-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out","title":{"rendered":"Top referee frozen out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>The sudden absence of one of Lesotho\u2019s top referees, Rets\u030celisitsoe Molise, remains an unexplained mystery in the Vodacom Premier League and has led many people to believe he has been suspended.<\/p>\n

Molise, who is one Lesotho\u2019s elite cluster of international referees, has not officiated in the elite league since April 2 in a game between Lijabatho and Swallows in Morija.<\/p>\n

The game was marred by controversy because of an on-field incident involving Swallows goalkeeper Fusi Ranone. It is reported Ranone went into a tussle with a Lijabatho player for the ball and Molise judged Ranone\u2019s challenge unfair.<\/p>\n

The referee blew the whistle in favour of Lijabatho. Ranong protested Molise\u2019s decision and got into the referee\u2019s face and even shoved him while blurting out unspeakable words.<\/p>\n

Ranone is the same goalkeeper who was involved in another unsavoury incident with Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) midfielder Ts\u030cepo Toloane in a league match at the end of January.<\/p>\n

The incident sparked a prolonged fight from LDF after the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC) suspended one of their players, Bonang Mohapi, for his involvement in the melee.<\/p>\n

Ranone has continued to play football with no repercussions for his unruly behaviour despite reports being submitted on the incidents while Molise has quietly been frozen out which affects his income and chances of being picked for international assignments.<\/p>\n

He has not been assigned a single domestic game since. There was no sign of him in the Round of 26 which was played on April 8-9 and he was also not seen in the Round of 24 catch-up games which were played mid-week on April 12. He was also a no-show in the Round of 27 games which were played on April 15, followed by another two-week absence during the People\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n

The Lesotho Football Association\u2019s Referee\u2019s Coordinator, Mohau Sents\u030co, denied Molise had been suspended and said his absence was merely because those responsible for assigning match officials have not seen the need to assign him.<\/p>\n

Sents\u030co said Molise will be back if those in charge decide to assign him. Asked if it is not suspicious that Molise\u2019s long absence comes after the game against Lijabatho, Sents\u030co said it may look that way, but he insisted that is not the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose responsible for assigning referees sit down every week to prepare referees\u2019 assignments, depending on their performance and experience.<\/p>\n

If they pick referees and say their picks are enough, then some (referees) will not be there,\u201d he said. \u201cReally, it\u2019s been two weekends (that) they have not seen the need (to pick Molise).<\/p>\n

He is not the only one; Souru Phats\u030coane has also not been picked a lot. (Molise) will be back before the season ends if they decide to assign him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sents\u030co said the People\u2019s Cup which was played over the past two weekends was only four games and that several officials were not picked for the competition.<\/p>\n

While it is true several officials did not get a chance, a few of them were picked twice for the cup\u2019s consecutive weekends in Mants\u030conyane and at Setsoto Stadium.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, thepost contacted Molise for comment. He refused to speak with the paper but confirmed he has not officiated since the game in Morija on April 2.<\/p>\n

One league insider, who spoke with the paper on condition of anonymity, said Molise has been silently suspended and there is a chance he may not officiate in the Vodacom Premier League again this season. The source said Molise has not been served with a suspension letter but he has been frozen out.<\/p>\n

The source continued to say the freezing out of Molise does not come as a surprise as his no-nonsense attitude has very often ruffled the feathers of club bigwigs in the Vodacom Premier League, some of which are influential.<\/p>\n

Amongst the decisions that Molise has made which angered some club executives is the time when he expelled former Bantu head coach Abram Mongoya from the bench in a league game against Lioli in January in Teyateyaneng.<\/p>\n

Molise removed Mongoya because he could not produce his card in a pivotal game that finished 0-0. It was in that game where Molise and his team of match officials were forced to run for their lives after being attacked by a mob of Bantu fans while they were undressing.<\/p>\n

Earlier this season, reports broke out about Molise being suspended after an executive from a big Premier League club wrote a letter complaining about him.<\/p>\n

It is said that the Referees Committee fought against the suspension and it never happened. By the time of writing, assignments for this weekend\u2019s Vodacom Premier League had been made but its unclear if Molise has been assigned a game.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. The sudden absence of one of Lesotho\u2019s top referees, Rets\u030celisitsoe Molise, remains an unexplained mystery in the Vodacom Premier League and has led many people to believe he has been suspended. Molise, who is one Lesotho\u2019s elite cluster of international referees, has not officiated in the elite league since April 2 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,246,245,870],"class_list":["post-28528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-vodacom"],"yoast_head":"\nTop referee frozen out - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The sudden absence of one of Lesotho\u2019s top referees, Rets\u030celisitsoe Molise, remains an unexplained mystery in the Vodaco ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top referee frozen out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sudden absence of one of Lesotho\u2019s top referees, Rets\u030celisitsoe Molise, remains an unexplained mystery in the Vodaco ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-10T08:44:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-10T09:28:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/05\/postQueueImg_1683692193.11.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1106\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Top referee frozen out\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-10T08:44:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-10T09:28:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\"},\"wordCount\":815,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/05\/postQueueImg_1683692193.11.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Vodacom\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/top-referee-frozen-out\",\"name\":\"Top referee frozen out - 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