By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Coach Sebastian Bowles has left Sierra Leone Premier League side Luawa FC by “mutual consent”. In a statement, the club noted that during eight months with them, the Englishman made significant contributions towards the transformation of Luawa FC as a formidable Premier League side. According to the club statement: “due to safety concerns following an assault he experienced and despite all efforts to reassure his family of his security, Coach Seb and his family feel it is no longer safe for him to remain with the club. We want to express our gratitude to him for his time with us and wish him the very best in his future endeavors”.
Coach Sillah, who worked closely with Bowles, has now taken over.
This resignation has brought added significance to the debate around violence in the local game. Last week the FA Cup final match between Bo Rangers and EE Lions in Portloko was abandoned due to crowd trouble.
Coach Bowles once took to social media to talk about being attacked by a colleague from Real Republicans FC during a heated touch line exchange. He said: “when football related matters break the law as in a clear case of assault, they shouldn’t be handled outside of legal proceedings“, this is called corruption”, he said.
Coach Seb emphasized that “violence and assault has been ongoing for too long in Salone football, referees get attacked, players get attacked, coaches get attacked and nothing happens. Enough is enough”.
He blamed the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) saying they did not publicly condemn the attack in any way. “In the US or Europe, if a coach attacks and hits another coach, his license will be revoked and he is banned for life from any football related matters”, according to Bowles.
He noted that FIFA will be very interested to hear that a UK UEFA licensed coach was assaulted during a game by another coach and despite clear evidence from eye witnesses and legal reports; the FA chose to be silent in the matter which he said is disappointing. He added that violence shouldn’t be accepted in any sport and that referees, players and technical staff should feel safe in their work.
At the time Luawa FC issued a statement dated 17th March, 2023, saying “the reprehensible incident resulted in Coach Bowles sustaining facial bruises, a broken tooth, and the loss of a dental clip due to blows inflicted by Tostao”. It stated that Coach Bowles promptly reported the assault to the authorities and obtained a medical report, which confirmed that he suffered a concussion during the attack.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (13/05/24)
