M20m new home for Lioli

The Teya-teyaneng giants have commenced work on building a new home to host future Premier League games however although the ground is not expected to be ready for the upcoming season which will force ‘Tse Nala’ to play their home games in Maputsoe or at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena in Maseru.
Lioli’s old ground, now under the local government’s control, is set to be repurposed for constructing a new bus rank for Teyateyaneng. According to the club’s president, Lebohang Thotanyana, Lioli’s new ground could cost upwards of M20 million once completed.
“The initial artwork alone is estimated to cost about M10 million, and as we continue, it’s possible the total cost could reach M20 million,” Thotanyana told thepost on Monday.
Thotanyana also expressed his bemusement at a recent Premier League memo threatening to suspend Lioli’s old ground if it is not fixed.
The club felt the Premier League had no idea what they were talking about.
Thotanyana said the memo was irrelevant to the club’s plans but was nonetheless humorous due to several inaccuracies. He noted that the memo instructed the club to fence the old ground, even though it had already been fenced at the league’s request at the end of last season to host the Lioli versus Matlama title-decider match. This discrepancy, he said, highlighted a lack of diligence on the Premier League’s part.
“Lioli’s old ground is no more; we have closed it. Construction work is already underway to build a bus rank and a Lioli shopping centre. We are unfazed by the memo because it doesn’t affect us at all, but it does concern us that it clearly shows the Premier League didn’t do their work. If they had, they would know that our ground was fenced last season, but we won’t be using it anymore as we are building a new one,” Thotanyana said.
“What surprised me about their letter is that they wrote to us, telling us to fence our ground,” added the Lioli president.
“We did, and they came to check it. Yet, they released a report saying our ground is unfenced. We are just asking ourselves whether they actually checked the grounds they deemed unfit because if they were honest, they would know we fenced the ground. We won’t be using it anyway, so you just wonder whether this is as genuine as they make it seem, given the mistakes we’re noticing,” he said.
Thotanyana explained that Lioli entered into an agreement with the local government ministry to relinquish their old ground for the bus rank project. He expressed optimism that the new ground would meet the Premier League’s requirements but noted that the project is still in its early stages.
“We hope to include everything required,” he said.
“This is just the beginning — they are currently doing the artworks. We aim to bring it up to the required standard because it’s essential.”

Tlalane Phahla