Another huge breakthrough for Phatšoane

TEBOHO JAFETA

MASERU – Top Lesotho Assistant Referee, Souru Phatšoane, will re-write football history books when he becomes the only Lesotho referee to officiate at the Confederations Cup final match between Raja Casablanca and JS Kabylie to be held in Cotonou, Benin tomorrow.

According to the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA)’s Media Officer Mikia Kalati, Phatšoane will be working as the second assistant referee with the South African duo of Victor Gomes and Zakhele Siwela as the central referee and first assistant referee, respectively.

Phatšoane has already made a name for himself in the football fraternity by becoming the first Lesotho referee to officiate at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and Under-17 World Cup held in Egypt and Brazil respectively.

In 2020, he officiated at the CAF Super Cup final match between ES Tunis and Zamalek held in Doha, Qatar.

He is also on his way to Tokyo for the Olympic Games scheduled for July 21 to August 8 in Japan and will also become the first Mosotho football referee to officiate at the global multi-sport games.

“Individually, Basotho are quite competent but we show tremendous weaknesses where we have formed organisations. This implies that we serve personal interests within our organisations.

“We forget purposes and goals of our teams and end up doing things to spite others and I feel the sooner we stop this, the better,” local football fan, Francis Mahao said.

Besides working full-time as a professional referee, the resourceful Phatšoane, is also a school teacher by profession. He is one of several local referees who are being assigned by FIFA, CAF and COSAFA to officiate in major football competitions.