Lesotho Football Association

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Lesotho Football Association
CAF
Short nameLFA
Founded1932
HeadquartersMaseru
FIFA affiliation1964
CAF affiliation1963[1]
COSAFA affiliation1997
PresidentSalemane Phafane[2]
Websitehttp://lesothofootball.com/

The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is the governing body of association football in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa.[3] It was formed in 1932 and it is based in the city of Maseru.[4] The board helps run the Lesotho national football team as well as domestic competitions such as the Lesotho Premier League, the Lesotho Independence Cup and the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular.[3]

History[edit]

Despite been formed in 1932, the Lesotho Football Association did not gain membership of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body for association football, until 1964.[4][3] In 1963, LEFA gained membership of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[5] CAF is the controlling body for African association football and membership of it is required to compete in qualifying for Africa Cup of Nations or the event itself.[6] LEFA is also part of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) which acts as an association of football associations for Southern African countries.[7] Lesotho joined COSAFA in 1997 which is the year COSAFA was formed.[7] COSAFA organises the COSAFA Cup, a competition Lesotho has finished runner-up in once.[8]

LEFA runs the Lesotho national football team, whose first international match was a 2–1 win against Malawi in 1970.[9] The Lesotho national team has never qualified for an Africa Cup of Nations or a World Cup but they have competed in multiple COSAFA Cups with the first being the 1999 edition.[10][11] The national team reached the final of the 2000 COSAFA Cup but lost 6–0 on aggregate to Zimbabwe.[12] LEFA also helps in the running of the Lesotho women's national football team.[3][13] They played their first international match in 1998 and have since competed in the COSAFA Women's Championship on two occasions.[14][15] In Lesotho, the Lesotho Premier League is the top domestic football league.[3] The winner of the league qualifies for the CAF Champions League.[16] As of October 2016 the president of LEFA is Salemane Phafane.[3] In February 2022, Lesotho Football Association appointed former Angola and Botswana boss Veselin Jelusic as their new coach.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ethiopian Herald. 30 November 1963.
  2. ^ "Advocate Phafane re-elected LeFA President - Lesotho Football Association". 11 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Lesotho Football Association". FIFA. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Asociaciones D – J (Djibouti – Lesotho)" (in Spanish). El-Area. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  5. ^ Ethiopian Herald. 30 November 1963.
  6. ^ "Confederation of African Football". Confederation of African Football]. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. ^ a b Falola, Toyin; Jean-Jacques, Daniel (14 December 2015). Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. ABC-CLIO. p. 657. ISBN 978-1598846669.
  8. ^ COSAFA Cup. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  9. ^ "Lesotho – Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on June 23, 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  10. ^ "COSAFA Cup 1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  11. ^ "International Friendly Games - LEFA". azscore.ng. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  12. ^ "COSAFA Cup 2000". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  13. ^ Thuseho, Leemisa (2022-04-20). "Lesotho: Lefa Invests in Women's Football". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  14. ^ "Lesotho Women – Matches". FIFA. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  15. ^ "COSAFA Women Tournaments". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  16. ^ "CAF 5-Year Ranking". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Lesotho appoint Serbian Jelusic as coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
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