By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Union of Premier League Clubs in Sierra Leone (UPLC-SL) has announced its immediate suspension of participation in the League until certain concerns they raised were addressed by the Premier League Board (PLB).
The union confirmed the league’s suspension through a press release issued last week and said all eighteen premier clubs agreed to break off the league owing to the fact that the PLB is yet to disburse funds meant for them.
It noted that upon the commencement of the ongoing premier league which began on the 9th December 2022, clubs agreed to continue playing despite issues of inconsistencies and incomplete agreement between clubs and the Board.
It stated that the clubs decided to play to promote football in the country and safeguard the hundreds of youths who are players, coaches, and administrators and in view of Sierra Leoneans’ commitment to support their various teams in the league.
It recalled the government’s commitment to disburse Le3, 400,000,000 (three billion, four hundred million old Leones) to the PLB for the running of the league.
However, the PLB said during the first round of the League it received Le2, 200,000,000 (two billion, two hundred million old Leones) with Le1, 200,000,000 (one billion, two hundred million old Leones) yet to be received.
Each club according to the union,received Le 80,000,000 (eighty million old Leones) and whilst they are grateful for the assistance from the government, they said the sum could only take care of one month’s expenses.
According to the union, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) committed to give Le1, 000,000,000 (one billion old Leones) at a meeting held in April 2023 at its headquarters, between clubs and PLB.
The UPLC confirmed that SLFA released this sum to the PLB weeks ago but the PLB has failed to distribute it to clubs. It further stated that the clubs are very committed to completing the league, but the challenges are too many to bear.
The clubs encouraged both the government and SLFA to complete their commitments to the league and also encouraged the PLB for a timely response and fulfillment of the agreement. The UPLC release concluded that upon fulfillment of all agreements and commitments, clubs are desirous and very much committed to participate and complete the league.
In responding to the concerns raised by the UPLC, the Head of Media and Marketing of the Sierra Leone Premier League, Abdul Karim Kargbo noted that they are yet to respond in relations to the union’s concerns due to the fact that they failed to follow engagement procedures before arriving at such decisions. He said the league is for clubs and that it is up to them if they’ve decided not to play .
He confirmed that they really should have met with the clubs sometime ago, but unfortunately the PLB Chairman was bereaved. He added that they have had a meeting on Tuesday 20th 2023 with the clubs to listen to their concerns and said they still consider them as major stakeholders towards the development of football in the country.
The Premier League Head of Media however stated that the league’s suspension was not because of the UPLC press release, but the forth-coming multi-tier elections in the country.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (21/06/23)
