Majantja back in big league

MASERU – 1995 league champions Majantja are back in the elite league after buying Kick4Life’s Vodacom Premier League status. The sale was ratified by the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) on Tuesday and is now complete.

The sale means the storied Mohale’s Hoek franchise will return to the top-flight after being relegated in 2019. Majantja will play their home games at the Mohale’s Hoek DIFA Ground which has been fully renovated by LEFA and has a new artificial pitch installed.

The news was announced yesterday at a joint press conference held by Majantja and Kick4Life. Kick4Life, who had been a top-flight fixture since 2015, will carry on with the club’s youth teams while the women’s side will continue to campaign in the Women Super League (WSL).

Speaking yesterday, Majantja secretary general, Katiso Mohlalisi, said they are very happy to be back with the big boys. He said this is an opportunity for the club to improve and do things differently from when they were demoted from the premiership.

“I am very happy; this is big for us as Majantja,” Mohlalisi said.

“If you look at the urban districts, from Quthing to Butha-Buthe there are Premier League teams; you skip Mohale’s Hoek, and there are many in Maseru,” he said.

“We thank Kick4Life that when they sat down and looked at those interested in buying their status, they saw it important to grow football in Mohale’s Hoek.”

Majantja were helped by local businessman Cloete Mdlokovana who fronted the funds to bring Majantja back to the Premier League. In turn, Majantja sold their A-Division status to All Aces which means Mohale’s Hoek now has teams in two of Lesotho’s top divisions. Mohlalisi said hosting big teams with a big following will help grow the district’s economy.

“We are happy that in Mohale’s Hoek we have a Premier League and an A-Division team, this means we are going to host in two levels,” he said.

“The economy in Mohale’s Hoek will grow, we are going to host teams like Bantu who have got a huge fan base, we will be able to say we are alive like other districts,” Mohlalisi said.

“This comes at a time when as the management we were already saying we should look things differently and see how we get out of this, but God didn’t abandon us. We are taking the first step to improve the team, change the team and avoid things that don’t grow the team,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of Kick4Life, Baba Malephane said the club received a lot of enquiries and offers but they chose Majantja after realising there was no Vodacom Premier League club in Mohale’s Hoek.

“It’s not because Majantja were the highest bidders, we still love football and we looked at it widely to also make sure that football grows in the country,” Malephane said.

“Most of the teams are in Maseru and even most of the offers came from Maseru, but we said because we are still developing football, we saw it important to look at Basotho in the south who are also thirsty for football.”

Tlalane Phahla