LESOTHO has pulled out of the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (Cossasa) track and field athletics competitions that set for the giant National Sports Stadium in Harare citing financial constraints.

The pull out by the Mountain Kingdom leaves four countries, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe  in the competition as other Sadc countries continue shunning the event which however is viewed as a stepping stone for future regional and international sports persons.

“Lesotho has pulled out of this year’s championships as a result of financial constraints but will be back for the ball games which they are actually hosting later this year,” said the vice president of the National Association of  School Heads (Nash) Arthur Maphosa. The championships gets underway tomorrow and will run up to May 6.

Botswana were the first to arrive in the country on Monday with Maphosa saying they were expecting Namibia and Malawi to arrive yesterday in time for today’s accreditation.

“Botswana came into the country on Monday while later today (yesterday) we expect Namibia and Malawi to also step into our borders. To avoid the hussle, accreditation for Botswana and Zimbabwe will have to be done today so as to have a smooth process tomorrow,” said Maphosa.

The championships will be officially opened by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Lazarus Dokora on Friday.

Hosts Zimbabwe, who have been in camp since April 19 at Queen Elizabeth High School in Harare have already declared their intention of claiming their fifth victory in a row since the inception of the game.

They have a 150 member team in camp with National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe head coach Lisimati Pakamile heading the technical team.

“We are in high spirits as the hosts and are ready to defend our title,” said Maphosa.