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June 27, 2019

3 min read

Lesotho referee debuts at AFCON tourney

Lesotho referee debuts at AFCON tourney

Souru Phats'oane

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Lesotho match official Souru Phats'oane will make his debut appearance at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019 tournament in a match between the hosts, the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The two nations clashed in Cairo last night in the AFCON Cup finals second match of group A. The manager of the Lesotho Referees Committee Mohau Sents'o who is also a former international referee described Phats'oane as a brave and confident person who is passionate about football. Sent'so said Phats'oane has been paired with experienced international referees from South Africa. He said he will be the second assistant referee along-side the central referee Victor Miguel de Freitas Gomes and first assistant referee Zakhele Thusi Granville Siwela.

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The continental tournament he said is a perfect platform for Phats'oane to prove his mettle, adding that his two South African counterparts are vastly experienced with great international exposure. Phats'oane cut his teeth international during the CAF Champions’ league group stages matches where he was one of the match officials in a match between Mamelodi Sundowns of SA and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco.

“His bravery and confidence give him the needed advantage to ward off any intimidation from the hosts and their fans. If he performs to his full potential, he stands a better chance of going further in the tournament when other referees will be sent back home,” Sents'o added. Phats'oane he said follows in the foot-steps of the late Paul Phomane who was a top match official from Lesotho who among others officiated at the CAF U-17 finals held in Guinea. “Phats'oane grabbed the baton where Ntate Phomane left off and that could open doors for up and coming local referees to also go places,” he commented.
He said Phats'oane is going to fly the national flag high among other nations, adding that he will not only be representing himself but the entire local referees and the country as a whole. Likuena failed to qualify for the 2019 AFCON finals at the last hurdle after failing to beat Cape Verde's Blue Sharks in the last crunch match of group L and allowed Tanzania's Taifa Stars to advance after beating Uganda's Cranes 3-0. Both the Cranes and the Taifa Stars qualified for the AFCON finals as group L leaders and runners up while Likuena finished on third position with the Blue Sharks on position four.

The Pharaohs opened the AFCON finals with a narrow 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe's Brave Warriors while the DRC's Leopards went down 2-0 against the Cranes of Uganda. Five COSAFA member countries are having a tough time at the AFCON finals in Egypt after Madagascar, South Africa and Angola as well as Namibia all failed to win their opening matches of the tournament. Angola managed a 1-1 draw against Tunisia, Namibia lost by slim 1-0 to Morocco while Madagascar also played a two all draw against Guinea. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast on Monday evening. - LeNA

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