Lesotho Premier League - Relegation Explanation

Got this sms yesterday… the profanities have been erased. The guy, whose name can’t be disclosed for financial reasons, was pretty upset and wanted to know why four teams had been relegated in this season’s Vodacom Premier League. He was fuming, must have been a fan of Mphatlalatsane…

Why in the world are there four teams going down this season?! Since when was it like this? And whose wonderful idea was this?

It has actually been known for a while that four teams were going to be relegated this season.  It is all part of the plans to one day turn Lesotho’s football professional and the relegation of four teams was one of the directives of the Mohale Declaration signed in 2008. The Mohale Declaration, a Fifa roadmap that is part of the Fifa Goal Project for Africa, aims to establish a professional football league in Lesotho by 2014.

One of the major directives that were set out in the roadmap was the cutting of the number of teams in Lesotho’s Premier League from 16 to 12.

Bantu fans

This process began last season with four teams relegated and promotion of the standard two teams. The unfortunate teams demoted last in the 2009/10 season were Majantja, Nyenye Rovers, Rovers and Botha-Bothe Roses. This season the axe has fallen on Mphatlalatsane, Lerotholi, Swallows and Mabeoana.

It means when the 2011/12 Lesotho Premiership season starts in September there will be 12 teams competing in the division.

In many ways it’s a good thing. At its basic less team will invariably mean more competition in the top-flight. This just ended season has seen a team like Mabeoana which couldn’t buy a win gaining just nine points while Botha-Bothe Roses and Sekamaneng Young Stars in seasons before similarly added nothing to the Premiership.

A competitive and interesting Premier League is always the first step to the success and growth of football in any country.

Hopefully fewer teams will also mean more speed towards the ultimate goal of at least a semi-professional league in the country. It also means there will be more cash to share amongst the teams and hopefully increased sponsorship as well.

Currently Vodacom Lesotho are the sponsors of Lesotho’s Premier League and first division to the combined tune of M1 million per season. The telecommunications company also sponsors Lesotho’s main cup competition, the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular, also for M1 million per season.

The deal began in September 2009 and ends at the end of next season, maybe with a better, more compact and competitive league this sponsorship will increase.

There are other major measures detailed in the Mohale Declaration which really has to be followed in order to transport Lesotho from the amateur wilderness it is stuck in at the moment. Promisingly, this coming season Lesotho is going to introduce a club licensing system in the premier and first divisions. But nothing is ever a done deal in Lesotho, there were measures that were supposed to have started this season such as the appointment of refereeing inspectors and implementation of safety procedures at all league matches.

Teams have also been asked to register 100 supporters, have eight marshals at matches, a rubber stamp, a revised constitution, a stretcher and a technical area with 24 seats. But somehow it is still a struggle for clubs to manage this.

So we’ll have to wait and see if it all goes according to plan.

Vodacom Premier League

Final Table

		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
C	LCS	26	15	10	1	43	17	26	55
2	LDF	26	16	7	3	39	19	20	55
3	Bantu	26	14	6	6	36	23	13	48
4	Linare	26	12	8	6	36	23	13	44
5	Matlama	26	10	10	6	27	18	9	40
6	LMPS	26	10	8	8	34	28	6	38
7	Likhopo	26	10	7	9	26	27	-1	37
8	Lioli	26	9	9	8	26	22	4	36
9	Maduma	26	9	9	8	31	33	-2	36
10	Joy	26	8	9	9	24	24	0	35
R	Mphatlalatsane	26	4	11	11	29	37	-8	23
R	Lerotholi	26	6	5	15	17	34	-17	23
R	Swallows	26	2	7	17	15	42	-27	13
R	Mabeoana	26	1	6	19	13	49	-36	9

                                                                                      

* Note: The top four teams in the league qualify for next season’s Independence Cup played in October.