LeFA attends FIFA Executive Football Summit

Possible strategic alliances to propel Lesotho football forward

SEBONGILE MATHE

MASERU – Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) executive secretary, Mokhosi Mohapi, represented the nation on the global stage in the 2024 FIFA Executive Football Summit that commenced at the Grand Beach Hotel Surfside in Miami, USA, this week – in what could be described as cementing crucial ongoing partnerships with the world football governing body.

Held on the side-lines of the continuing FIFA Club World Cup, the summit serves as FIFA’s premier platform for direct dialogue and strategic exchange between its global leadership and Member Associations (MAs).

Established in 2016, this year’s event brought together football leaders from across the world to chart the course for the sport’s future. LeFA’s active participation underscores its commitment to leveraging FIFA’s resources and expertise to elevate football within Lesotho.

This year’s discussions focused on critical topics such as youth football development, women’s football growth, improving technical expertise, implementing the ‘Football for Schools’ programme, the FIFA Talent Development Scheme initiative and plans to expand the Women’s World Cup to 48 teams starting in 2031.

The summit’s opening session featured addresses from FIFA Secretary General, Mattias Grafström, setting the tone for discussions focused on global strategy and development support.

Mohapi joined representatives from 68 other MAs, gaining invaluable insights alongside football legends. Beyond the high-profile speakers, the summit’s core value for LeFA lay in the intensive breakout sessions dedicated to specific strategic pillars of FIFA’s development framework.

Mohapi engaged deeply in discussions covering exploration of pathways for growth, increased participation, and competitive opportunities for women’s football – a key growth area globally and within Lesotho where LeFA has shown increasing commitment.
Discussing strategies to enhance youth development structures, talent identification programmes, and international competition exposure for young Basotho players, crucial for long-term national team success, engaging with FIFA’s new initiative designed to provide more meaningful international match opportunities for teams from all confederations, potentially opening new competitive doors for Lesotho’s national teams – a session that was undoubtedly of paramount importance.

With the FIFA Forward flagship development programme providing tailored financial and operational support directly to MAs for football infrastructure, governance, competitions and education, Mohapi’s participation ensured that LeFA is perfectly positioned to maximize the benefits of this vital funding stream for projects directly impacting Lesotho’s football landscape.
The Miami Summit transcends mere dialogue, it represents FIFA’s tangible commitment to supporting LeFA’s mission. The FIFA Forward programme, in particular, offers a structured mechanism for LeFA to access crucial funding.

This can be directed towards critical areas such as upgrading training facilities, enhancing coach education programs, improving administrative capabilities, developing robust youth academies, supporting women’s football initiatives, and ensuring national teams have the necessary preparation and resources.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has consistently emphasized “football development for all” as a core tenet of his leadership, therefore, LeFA’s prominent participation in the Miami Summit exemplifies FIFA’s intent to work hand-in-hand with smaller and developing football nations.

This collaboration ensures that the global growth of the game includes and actively supports countries like Lesotho.

For Basotho football fans and stakeholders, this should signify concrete hope for progress. The knowledge transfer, strategic alignment, and anticipated financial injection through FIFA Forward provide LeFA with powerful tools to implement its vision.

The focus now shifts to translating the discussions and agreements forged in Miami into actionable projects on the ground – building better pitches, training better coaches, nurturing young talent, empowering women’s football, and ultimately fielding more competitive national teams.

The road to football development is long, but LeFA’s strategic positioning at the heart of FIFA’s global summit and its resulting partnership marks a decisive and promising step forward for the beautiful game in the country.

The world’s football body has extended its hand, Lesotho is now poised to grasp the opportunity firmly.