Lifofane likely to review status sale
NTHAKO MAJORO
MASERU – The management of the Botha-Bothe premier league side, Lifofane FC, might review the decision to sell the team’s status. Lifofane announced the sale of their premiership status immediately after Kick4Life FC announced the disbanding of their club and sale of their status last month.
However, the team president Letšolo Maliehe told Public Eye this week that selling the team’s status will be the last route the team will resort to. Maliehe said they were banking on financial support from the Botha-Bothe community to salvage the team, with the sale option also being planned for Botha-Bothe residents first. “We are not selling the club but its premiership status and we are giving the Botha-Bothe-based people the first option because we still want to have a premier league club here in the Botha-Bothe district,” said Maliehe in an interview on Wednesday this week.
Maliehe further said: “It may also happen that we will end up not selling the status at all if the Botha-Bothe people could come up with solutions because the reason why we have decided to sell it is because of financial constraints.” However, the Premier League Management Committee (PLMC)’s Communications and Marketing Manager, Qamako Mahao, said his office could not confirm the sale of Lifofane’s status.
Mahao said procedurally, the management of Lifofane must notify the PLMC regarding any mulled sale of the team’s status. “We cannot say he (Maliehe) is selling the team status because he hasn’t said anything to us. We just saw it in the media,” said Mahao in an interview on Tuesday this week. “He hasn’t written to PLMC about selling the team status.”
Mahao said unlike Lifofane, management at Kick4Life followed the procedure. “That’s exactly what Kick4Life did. They wrote to the league to say they are terminating.” Maliehe confirmed that they have not informed PLMC about selling the status. “Yes, we are yet to inform them and, like I said, that’s because we may end up not selling the status.” Maliehe further said: “But it’s important (to inform PLMC) because we may end up forgetting to inform them.”
Lifofane finished the 2020/21 season lying on position 11 on the 16-team Vodacom Premier League log table.