Lesotho charity launched in Maseru
The Lesotho Football Association in conjunction with Vodacom Lesotho launched a Soccer Spectacular similar to the South African version of the annual Telkom Charity Cup with a lot of funfair at the Maseru Sun this week.
But while the South African event is aimed at the public voting for the top four teams in the country to take part in a one-day event that gets underway in the morning and finish in the evening with a final, they do things a lot more differently down Maseru way.
In Lesotho, 34 teams made up of 16 from the Premier League, 10 from the First Division and eight from their amateur leagues are put together and the public is requested to vote not just for four, but eight teams to take part in the tournament.
“It’s an innovation that might look similar to the South African event,” admitted Lesotho Football Association secretary general Mohapi Mohapi. “But the concept is far different from the Telkom Charity and this is one competition that gets the entire nation involved,” he added.
“The sponsors get the entire country involved in voting for the eight teams they want to see participating in the tournament,” explains Mohapi. “And they spend countless days criss-crossing the country and even traveling to the remotest part of the country to promote the event and teach people about how to vote for their favorite teams.”
When voting closes towards the end of September, the eight teams that had amassed the most votes are announced and a draw is conducted.
The teams take part in a two-legged quarterfinal tie at two venues and the winners qualify for the semi-finals the following week.
The semifinals are played on a Saturday at a central venue and the finals at the same venue, probably the Setsoto Stadium the following day. And the last team standing takes home a massive Maluti 360 000.
“An interesting feature about the tournament is that the money collected from voting lines and smses is donated to various needy and charitable organizations across the country,” explained Vodacom managing executive commercial Tsabiso Letsoela.
“It is our humble way of thanking the public for supporting us,” he adds. “We know we cannot reach everybody in terms of distributing funds collected from the voting, but the little that we manage to donate, we hope, can make a difference to the lives of our people.”
Voting closes on the last day of September and the tournament is earmarked for October 10.