Lesotho Football Association

Lesotho Football Association
CAF
Founded 1932
FIFA affiliation 1964
CAF affiliation 1964
COSAFA affiliation 1997
President Salemane Phafane
Website http://lesothofootball.com/

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] Also in 1964, LEFA gained membership of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Lesotho joined COSAFA in 1997 which is the year COSAFA was formed.[4] COSAFA organises the COSAFA Cup, a competition Lesotho has finished runner-up in once.[5]

LEFA runs the Lesotho national football team, whose first international match was a 2–1 win against Malawi in 1970.[6] 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.[7] The national team reached the final of the 2000 COSAFA Cup but lost 6–0 on aggregate to Zimbabwe.[8] LEFA also helps in the running of the Lesotho women's national football team.[1] They played their first international match in 1998 and have since competed in the COSAFA Women's Championship on two occasions.[9][10] In Lesotho, the Lesotho Premier League is the top domestic football league.[1] The winner of the league qualifies for the CAF Champions League.[11] As of October 2016 the president of LEFA is Salemane Phafane.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lesotho Football Association". FIFA. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Asociaciones D – J (Djibouti – Lesotho)" (in Spanish). El-Area. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Confederation of African Football". Confederation of African Football]. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 Falola, Toyin; Jean-Jacques, Daniel. Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. ABC-CLIO. p. 657. ISBN 1598846663.
  5. ↑ COSAFA Cup. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  6. ↑ "Lesotho – Matches". FIFA. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "COSAFA Cup 1999". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "COSAFA Cup 2000". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Lesotho Women – Matches". FIFA. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "COSAFA Women Tournaments". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "CAF 5-Year Ranking". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
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