Lesotho Football Association
Template:Short description Template:National football association
The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is the governing body of association football in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa.[1] It was formed in 1932 and it is based in the city of Maseru.[2] 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.[1]
History
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.[2][1] In 1963, LEFA gained membership of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] Lesotho joined COSAFA in 1997 which is the year COSAFA was formed.[5] COSAFA organises the COSAFA Cup, a competition Lesotho has finished runners-up twice.[6]
LEFA runs the Lesotho national football team, whose first international match was a 2–1 win against Malawi in 1970.[7] 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.[8][9] The national team reached the final of the 2000 COSAFA Cup but lost 6–0 on aggregate to Zimbabwe.[10] LEFA also helps in the running of the Lesotho women's national football team.[1][11] They played their first international match in 1998 and have since competed in the COSAFA Women's Championship on two occasions.[12][13] In Lesotho, the Lesotho Premier League is the top domestic football league.[1] The winner of the league qualifies for the CAF Champions League.[14] Template:As of the president of LEFA is Salemane Phafane.[1] In February 2022, Lesotho Football Association appointed former Angola and Botswana boss Veselin Jelusic as their new coach.[15]
References
Template:Sports governing bodies in Lesotho Template:Football in Lesotho Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:National Members of the Confederation of African Football
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- ↑ Ethiopian Herald. 30 November 1963.
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