MASERU - The Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) will be distributing food parcels to rugby players who are less fortunate on Monday July 6 at Setsoto stadium.

In an interview with Metro, FLR Secretary General Litšitso Motšeremeli said it was not easy for them to push this initiative because sport in Lesotho is still considered as recreational. “Upon being elected to office as the executive committee, we decided to turn rugby into a professional sport. Rugby is now played by both rich and poor people, so we found the need to assist vulnerable players who are affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.

“Upon sports being halted, we wrote to Rugby Africa and requested to use international matches’ funds to buy food parcels and donate to our players during this difficult time. CAF approved the request and released the money, hence we afforded to do this project,” he said adding the assistance is meant for players and coaches who are not working.

The Rugby federation will also be assisting members of the five families who lost their children during the June 22, 2019 car accident. He further said the eight players who survived the accident will also receive aid. “We chose to use Setsoto stadium because it is the central to all villages in Maseru, and it is open in that way, we will easily observe social distancing of leaving two metres between each other,” he said.

Motšeremeli said this will be the first event where FLR donates food parcels to players as the association though their sponsors assisted families of the deceased players with funeral and other related costs last year. “We assisted families of the five deceased rugby players through Econet Telecom Lesotho, Matekane Group of Companies (MGC) and Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) as our sponsors,” he added.