MASERU – With the 2018/19 football season fast approaching, preparations for the country’s top match officials are also stepping up.
Late last month the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) Referees Committee held a workshop for match officials educating them on new FIFA rules to be implemented in the new season.
Last weekend the committee then followed it up with a seminar for match assessors as well.
Next up on the timetable is a fitness test in the first week of August to make sure referees are physically prepared for the rigours of the new season which is set to start at the end of August.
It is a full slate of preparations as the Referees Committee looks to make sure the 2018/19 season goes smoothly and, according to a senior member of the Referees Committee, Maponyane Letsie, things have gone well so far.
The latest round of preparations last weekend at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena saw about 20 match assessors attend an exhaustive seminar although Letsie did express concern only two of the 20 were women. “The workshop was a success,” Letsie told thepost.
“We had about 20 match assessors attending and the purpose was to teach them about the new amendments that have been made (by FIFA) and will be implemented in the new season. We have to get everything right but, as you know, we have a problem with a shortage of women in this sport, we had only two women (at the workshop).”
Letsie said one concerning issue last season was match assessors writing their match reports incorrectly. He said it is a problem that has to be fixed now before the season begins.
“We were working on reporting because we had a problem last season. There were a lot of mistakes in the reports and (match assessors) were writing differing reports,” Letsie said.
“For example, you would read the report and see the assessor saying the referee was fair but when you looked at the marks given to the referee they were low. Those are some of the things we were working on to get right,” he added.
Letsie continued: “Another issue was that the reports were coming late, especially for highly-rated matches, and that caused a stir.”
“We have to sort that out. When the match is on the weekend we expect the report to be on our desk by at least 1pm on Tuesday because the PLMC (Premier League Management Committee) and A-Division meetings are at 5pm. We wanted to see the reports first before handing them to the league to see if there are any mistakes. That is our responsibility, but if (the reports) come late we are not able to do that,” he said.
For now the final item on the Referees Committee’s checklist before the 2018/19 season starts is the referees’ fitness test.
“Every year the Referees Committee holds a fitness test for match officials several weeks before the season starts in order to give others a chance to undergo a second test should they fail the first one,” Letsie said.
Luciah Phahla