The announcement of the list of local referees making it onto FIFA approved international register has fermented a dispute that could spill into the domestic soccer league. 

Lesotho Referees Associations chairman Mofihli Phaqane said the exclusion of some top referees from the world soccer controlling body’s list has not gone well with most referees. They demanded an explanation from the local referees committee which is responsible for recommending referees to FIFA.

 The referees committee had promised  to find out the situation from FIFA, but despite being approached last December, the committee had not come back to the Referees Association but had used the disputed FIFA list to allocate a referee to officiate  an international match in Madagascar in March.

Referee Paul Phomane, considered not only to be the best in the country but also throughout the continent, was missing from the list, Phaqane said.

For a local referee to be recommended to the FIFA referee's list, he or she has to take and pass a fitness test. They were shocked to find that an assistant referee who had not taken the fitness test due to ill health appeared on the international referees list.

Referee Phomane officiated at the under 17 African Junior championships held in Gambia last year after being appointed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), he said.

02 February 2006