LEFA’s big plan for football

MASERU – The Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) has revealed wide-ranging plans it will implement to improve and grow football in the country.

The plans were revealed during a FIFA MA Strategic Framework Session held by the association with its stakeholders last Friday.

The session was led by LEFA’s secretary general, Mokhosi Mohapi, who presented an extensive document that was discussed by members in attendance.

LEFA’s strategy covers nine goals which are Governance, Football Specific Education, Grassroots and Youth Football Development, Talent Development Scheme and Football for Schools, Local

Competitions, Infrastructure and Specific Projects, National Teams and International Participation, Stakeholder Relations as well as Resource and Mobilisation.

LEFA said it has already implemented some of the goals while others are ongoing.

Mohapi expanded further on the components of the FIFA Funding Model, especially the Solidarity Funding, which is for the national teams and is meant to help FIFA’s smaller associations with travelling costs.

The fund is only for national associations with annual operational budgets that are less than US$4 million (roughly M75 million).

Because LEFA’s annual budget excluding projects is around US$2,5m-$3m (M37 million – M56 million), it qualifies for the funding.

However, to access the funding there are several requirements to be met by the association.

“You have heard us saying if the (Setsoto) stadium is not fixed we will not be able to enrol a team into the international club competitions because we do not have money that is specific for that, (but) the national team we will continue to enrol it because this funding is there for us as the association,” Mohapi said.

“Let me also clarify that this funding is only available for those associations whose operational funding, the entire annual budget, does not exceed US$4 million per year. It is meant to help us, small associations, to enrol our national teams into different competitions that are on offer for us. It’s not much, but it does help a lot,” Mohapi said.

One of the requirements that have to be fulfilled for an association to access the FIFA solidarity fund is having a strategic plan in place.

LEFA presented and adopted their plan last year at the association’s annual congress.

Mohapi said there should also be stakeholder involvement in the process which has happened.

“(The LEFA strategic plan) must have the NEC’s approval, it’s not my document, it’s the association’s. We will then have the FIFA-MA, LEFA in this case contract of agreed objectives,” Mohapi said.

“It is a contract where each MA (member association) presents a fulfilment of requirements, their strategic plan and those objectives that will be agreed upon between the two, which in our case is FIFA and LEFA. It is a four-year contract. It starts this year and will end in 2026,” he said.

The FIFA Forward-Development-ProgrammeForward-3-0 regulations document provides: a contribution of up to US$1 million for the four-year cycle (2023-2026) (an increase of $200,000 compared to the Forward 2.0 cycle) and the money is meant to primarily cover the cost of travel and accommodation for their national teams.

FIFA says any remaining funds may be used to cover the cost of travel and accommodation for domestic competitions organised by the member associations.

The funding also includes a contribution of up to US$200,000 for the four-year cycle (2023-2026) to cover the cost of any football equipment related to the training of players and organisation of matches (for example, full kits for the national teams, balls, mini goals, bibs, substitution boards and referees’ communication systems) for those member associations that are identified as needing the most assistance.

A member association is identified as needing the most assistance, for the purpose of the contributions above, where their annual revenues (excluding Forward Programme funds as well as funds from any other FIFA programme/initiative) do not exceed $4m.

Tlalane Phahla