By Brima Bah
With Sierra Leone football forced to go into administration by a “Normalization Committee”, things could not have got worse. But with the current rigmarole over the elective congress of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) the glimmers of hope of resuscitating the very fragile game are fast fading away.
With that disappearing hope drowns the game hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Sierra Leoneans so passionately love and support. The big question now hanging on the lips of fans all over the country is whether football will survive under the life support machine which is the Normalization Committee.
By all indications we are at a threshold where football will either be resuscitated or simply suffocated to go into a state of coma. The very recent screening of candidates for various positions in the Sierra Leone Football Association has proved to be very disturbing. The legality of the decisions taken I cannot argue on. What is evident is the fact that some very important arbiters of the game have plunged into the FA’s politics. They have not only taken sides, but have authoritatively indicated that anything apart from their expressed directives will be rejected. The Normalization Committee appears to be under serious pressure, and not surprisingly their every decision has so far been in line with the expressed directives of the Minister of Sports. They might have found genuine reasons to disqualify some of the nominees, but with the Minister breathing over their necks, fans are left to conclude that they were influenced into the decisions reached. Moreover, the extremely technical and very labored grounds of disqualifying especially Mohamed Kallon tell of an action that was taken purely based on scraping on the fringes of the FA’s Constitution. Somebody appeared to be out to protect at all cost the only accepted presidential candidate of their choice and not the choice of the voters.
We are left to think that the best available people to run football in Sierra Leone are so tainted that should they be allowed to take over the running of the game, their competence would be severely hampered as a result. Conversely, we are forced to accept the thinking that those judged by the Normalization Committee to be qualified, would simply produce the best leadership. Ironically, or should I say realistically, however, it appears as if the majority of those (stakeholders) vested with responsibility of deciding who the best people to run the game are, would disagree with the assessment of the Normalization Committee, or would they not? Then why not just for the fun of it allow at least one of the candidates to go up against the lone selectee? She should not have trouble beating Mohamed Kallon who they said had not resided in the country for the past five years, but
who every Sierra Leonean, at least living in Freetown, knows has been in and out of the country every year, even during the war years. When he was not a player with his team, FC Kallon, he played with his community in various Inter Area leagues in Freetown, especially at the Parade Grounds.
The truth of the matter now is that the Minister of Sports has succeeded, from his perspective, to have a complete handle over football. As a Ministry, their role as a line ministry is mainly to oversee and support the various sporting disciplines. But unfortunately for the game, the Minister had a bit of experience which is sadly confused for expertise in the running of Football. His earlier diagnosis of the problems of Football was valid, and was widely public knowledge. He was good enough to confirm what was already known. However, not all those who knew about the problems of football in Sierra Leone had the opportunity of being in a position to help or positively contribute in solving them. The Ministry which has that mandate has unfortunately become part of the problem. Needless to go into the exchanges. What is evident is that we are having a rift in football so deep that many innocent young players are going to plunge into an abyss also so deep God alone can bring them light at the far end.
But how long does this crop of Premier League players have? More worrisome is the fate of the younger players. What would they look up to? Of course God! But then they might just be redirected to do other things! But what other things? What other provisions are there for youths that would be both fulfilling and rewarding?
Thankfully, perhaps, President Ernest Bai Koroma is said to be looking into the matter. I hope he sees where the problem truly lies. There is a figure in the shadows carrying a big glittering knife, determined to kill the game!
Brima Bah is a sports commentator and analyst
(C) Politico 01/08/13
