The Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) is the governing body of association football in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa.[3] It was formed in 1932 and it is based in the city of Maseru.[4] The board helps run the Lesotho national football team as well as domestic competitions such as the Lesotho Premier League, the Lesotho Independence Cup and the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular.[3]
| CAF | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Short name | LFA |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Headquarters | Maseru |
| FIFA affiliation | 1964 |
| CAF affiliation | 1963[1] |
| COSAFA affiliation | 1997 |
| President | Salemane Phafane[2] |
| Website | https://lefa.co.ls/ |
Despite been formed in 1932, the Lesotho Football Association did not gain membership of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body for association football, until 1964.[4][3] In 1963, LEFA gained membership of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[5] CAF is the controlling body for African association football and membership of it is required to compete in qualifying for Africa Cup of Nations or the event itself.[6] LEFA is also part of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) which acts as an association of football associations for Southern African countries.[7] Lesotho joined COSAFA in 1997 which is the year COSAFA was formed.[7] COSAFA organises the COSAFA Cup, a competition Lesotho has finished runner-up in once.[8]
LEFA runs the Lesotho national football team, whose first international match was a 2–1 win against Malawi in 1970.[9] The Lesotho national team has never qualified for an Africa Cup of Nations or a World Cup but they have competed in multiple COSAFA Cups with the first being the 1999 edition.[10][11] The national team reached the final of the 2000 COSAFA Cup but lost 6–0 on aggregatetoZimbabwe.[12] LEFA also helps in the running of the Lesotho women's national football team.[3][13] They played their first international match in 1998 and have since competed in the COSAFA Women's Championship on two occasions.[14][15] In Lesotho, the Lesotho Premier League is the top domestic football league.[3] The winner of the league qualifies for the CAF Champions League.[16] As of October 2016[update] the president of LEFA is Salemane Phafane.[3] In February 2022, Lesotho Football Association appointed former Angola and Botswana boss Veselin Jelusic as their new coach.[17]