By ‘Mamohaila Rampo
MASERU
Alliance Insurance presented the 5th edition of Alliance Winter Challenge 2022 tournament which will kick start on August 27 to 28 this month at the Diva stadium at Maputsoe.
The champions of the tournament will win M25 000.00 in cash.
This will be a preparatory tournament for the new football season that will start in September.
It is also aimed at preparing Matlama – as the winners of last Vodacom Premier League season – for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) championship.
The first leg of the games will see LCS FC log horns with Lioli FC at 1300hrs on August 27 while Linare FC will go head to head with Matlama FC at 1500hrs.
Alliance Insurance Group Public Relations Officer (PRO) Limakatso Mochoboko said their main objective is still to help grow football in the country. She said they want to reinforce the mood for sports, which has drastically declined due to the long break of sporting activities since the advent of Covid-19.
Mochoboko explained that this tournament was previously called Invitational Tournament, which sought to mentor and hone selected teams. “Those teams benefited a lot from that tournament, Bantu FC had been crowned champions for two years, Swallows FC and Santaoana FC also enjoyed the sponsorship by Alliance Insurance at the time. This year we are working with four premier league teams that are sponsored by Alliance insurance, namely Linare FC, Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) FC, Lioli FC and last season’s champions Matlama FC,” she noted.
The PRO said due to the COVID 19 pandemic, Alliance Insurance was, like most of the businesses, badly affected including. She, however said the company could not withhold the responsibility, saying it is dedicated to continue supporting Lesotho soccer teams.
Alliance Insurance Group Head of Marketing and Communication ‘Makeabetsoe Mabaleha revealed that before the matches, there will be a roadshows where supporters will personally meet different team players. Each soccer team will represent their district. The roadshow will begin on the 19 in Teyateyaneng where Lioli will meet their supporters. On August 23 LCS FC and Matlama FC will be on the roadshow in Maseru, and the last roadshow will be in Leribe with Linare FC rallying on the 26.