By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
In a letter written by the Interim Secretary of Kamboi Eagles Football Club, Christian Elogima Vandi and addressed to the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) Ethics Committee, the club has expressed concern at the level of “administrative inconsistencies” displayed by the Premier League Board (PLB) in the 2022/2023 Salone football season.
The letter dated 30th October, 2023 explained the potential impact of these inconsistencies on the “beautiful game of football that we all cherish and hold dear.”
The letter also mentioned controversial awarding of match points decisions, and inconsistencies in disciplinary actions which the club said threaten to erode the “integrity of the game.”
“Football's essence lies in its fairness and these inconsistencies undermine the trust that fans, players, and clubs place in the governing body to uphold this fairness,” it states.
The letter first highlighted the match between Luawa FC versus Kamboi Eagles on 7th May 2023 which during the 82nd minute of play, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Luawa FC against Kamboi Eagles FC in a water-logged pitch where the lines demarcating the 18-yard box was not visible at the time when the referee awarded the spot kick. As a result of what it referred to as “bad officiating,” the pitch was invaded and the match subsequently abandoned.
It expressed astonishment at the yardstick the central referee used to arrive at the conclusion that it was a penalty when the incident occurred far off the 18-yard area. It said, the PLB ruling awarded the match points to Luawa FC and their ruling in this case was not in tandem with other rulings in which matches were abandoned.
It also cited Bo Rangers versus East End Lions on Saturday 27th May 2023, Bo Rangers versus Kallon FC on Sunday 7th May 2023 at the Bo Stadium and Bai Bureh Warriors against Kallon FC in Port Loko City as few instances of abandoned matches in which match points were not awarded.
It referenced a case of alleged “match fixing” in a match between Wilberforce Strikers (owned by SLFA President, Thomas Daddy Brima) versus Freetonians SLIFA (having Benjamin Gordon as CEO) on Saturday 8th July 2023 at the Parade Field in which Freetonians SLIFA “deliberately selected two unregistered/unqualified’’ players: Alie R. Kabia popularly known as Lacazette wearing 19 jersey and Osman Mansaray alias Karason in 7 jersey.
The letter explained that during the hearing of the matter, Freetonians SLIFA represented by its CEO upon hearing the fact and evidence tendered by Wilberforce Strikers ‘’conceded and acknowledged wrongdoing’’. It described the decision by the PLB to award match points to Wilberforce Strikers, a team supported by the SLFA President as conflict of interest and “a gimmick to ensure Wilberforce Strikers avoid relegation at all cost.”
The Club further expressed disappointment in the letter regarding a match between Kallon FC versus Wilberforce Strikers that was brought to a standstill in the 86th minute of play and quoted Kallon saying the match should continue with twelve minutes left instead of the actual four minutes. It noted that in relation to the said continuity of the match, the match officials were “dubiously replaced by a new set of referees and then the venue chosen was completely unsatisfactory to Kallon FC” considering the proximity rule attached to transfer of matches to a different venue, in which Kallon FC did not honour the replay fixture citing irregularities.
The PLB in its 11th July ruling was said to have awarded 3 points and 3 goals to Wilberforce Strikers which made them narrowly escape relegation, after sitting rock- bottom of the relegation zone.
Kamboi Eagles Football Club called on the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as moral guarantors in the game of football and the public for the level of irregularities in the just concluded Sierra Leone Football League season be thoroughly investigated and actions taken to prevent a re-occurrence.
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