TOP Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) assistant referee, Souru Phatšoane along with South African duo of Victory Gomes and Zakhele Siwela inked their names in the history books of football in the continent last week Monday when they officiated the final of the CAF Champions final between Al Ahly and Wydad Athletic Club.

The trio in March became the first match officials from southern Africa to officiate the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, when they handled the final between continental heavyweights, Senegal and Egypt at the Stade Olembe in Yaoundé.

They never looked back since officiating the CAF Super Cup final between Esperance de Tunis and Zamalek in Qatar in 2020 and their stock keeps rising internationally.

The three are among the best referees from Africa who will do duty at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in October.

According to his elder brother, Ketsebile, Souru’s love affair with refereeing began at a tender age when he would officiate matches involving boys Under-12 teams.

“I used to own a football club that was called Killers with boys under-12, 15 and 17 teams as well as Likhosatsana, which was a woman’s team and we later sold its status to LDF Ladies FC, that campaign in the LeFA Women’s Super League,” Ketsebile says.

“At one stage, I decided to shift all my focus to Likhosatsana and Souru had to look after the boys youth teams, and this is where he played the role of referee when our boy’s teams were playing.”

Ketsebile believes Souru’s passion for the beautiful game was influenced by his older brothers as football was all they ever talked about at their Tšenola home on the outskirts of Maseru.

“Our eldest brother, Joel and I were very passionate about the game as we grew up, I believe it rubbed off on Souru and he quickly followed suit,” Ketsebile recalls.

“His passion for refereeing developed as a youngster and he soon learnt how to take care of the young boys’ teams because he would referee whenever they played.”

Ketsebile says he could tell that his younger brother was interested in making it big as a referee when he got hold of his referees’ handbook called the ‘Laws of the Game’.

“I had the FIFA Laws of the Game handbook that was a gift from a late friend, who was already a referee at the time. Souru got hold of the booklet and at that point, I knew he would follow a career in refereeing,” he says.

His next port of call was attending the LeFA basic course after completing his high school education and as they say, the rest is history.

Despite his hectic schedule in recent years traveling across the globe to officiate in all the big international tournaments, Souru has not forgotten his humble beginnings and remains committed to his community, where he owns Under-12 and 15 teams called Yebo Yes.

For his part, Joel says the family is quite proud of the achievement his younger decorated sibling has had over the years.

“As a family, we thank God for all that our little brother has achieved in his career as a referee. It has not been an easy journey at all,” he states.

“He has faced a lot of challenges along this journey, but his commitment and dedication got him this far.

“We are very proud because he has become a national pride as the football fraternity and the national at large continue to rally behind him,” he says.

Giving a rare interview after officiating the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, where he was honoured by LeFA in March, Souru attributed his success to both hard work and dedication.

“My secret is simple, that is to work hard and make use of any opportunity that comes my way. I always make sure that I’m in good shape to cope with the demands of officiating at the biggest stages of continental football as well as the local league,” the decorated assistant referee said.

“It’s quite important for referees to always be in good physical condition and be in the position to go as far as the extra time because that is always an option in the knockout stages of different competitions,” he said.