Serame Letsoaka out to nurture future stars

New Fifa technical consultant for football development in the south and east African regions, Serame Letsoaka, has prioritised helping more nations from these regions qualify for global tournaments in the future.

Fifa confirmed last week that they've contracted Letsoaka, a former Bafana Bafana assistant coach, as one of their advisors for football development in the south and east part of the continent, replacing Govinder Thondoo from Mauritius.

Letsoaka, a seasoned servant of the beautiful game, is assigned to the 20 Fifa member associations in SA, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eritrea, eSwatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"We've been having a challenge in the south and eastern regions when it comes to qualifying for big tournaments.

"If you look at west Africans, they're always qualifying for these global competitions," Letsoaka told Sowetan.

"The reason I took this job is that I want to assist east and south African countries compete with the West Africans."

The pumped-up former Bloemfontein Celtic and Golden Arrows tactician expanded: "It's a new challenge; my duty is to train technical directors, mentoring them about the significance of getting our development structures right."

Letsoaka, who vacated his post as technical director of the Botswana Football Association last month, was reluctant to reveal the duration of his Fifa contract, saying it will depend on his merit.

"My contract only depends on the work I do, the output I give to Fifa. If they [Fifa] see that I am doing a good job it will be a long-term relationship," said the ex-Amajita coach.