The seven-member verification committee of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) approved by President Ernest Koroma seems on the brink of collapse. This, after the Football Stakeholders, a renegade group opposed to the administration of SLFA president Isha Johansen, threatened to withdraw their members from the committee over the weekend.
Politico understands that some members of the Stakeholders group told a hurriedly arranged meeting that their representatives had “betrayed” them and must be withdrawn with immediate effect to be replaced by people “who are committed to the ideals we stand for”.
But our sources say senior members of the group rejected the call to withdraw the representatives opting instead to reprimand them over the way they had conducted themselves on the committee.
One of those senior members told Politico that withdrawing their members from the SLFA/FIFA committee could be counter-productive in that “the whole process would come to an abrupt end. And in any case, we need to hear from them before taking any hasty decision”. Our source says a second meeting has been scheduled for this weekend.
Meanwhile the committee members are back in Freetown after touring the entire country trying to verify the 47 delegates that are due to take part in the much-delayed SLFA congress originally slated for June. They were only able to verify about half the delegates.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Finance, the Chairman of the committee, Dr. Sheku Sorsoh Conteh said they were unable to complete their work because “the committee is hereby constrained with a budget deficit of Le 71, 000, 000 to complete the process of delegates’ identification”.
Dr Conteh said their request had already been communicated to President Ernest Bai Koroma, and urged the Finance Minister to “use your good office to help us complete the entire process as we urgently want to conclude the exercise as could be required by FIFA/CAF/SLFA and His Excellency the President.”
A source at the Ministry of Finance says the committee was warned about doing the job on budget and that no extra money would be allocated for the verification exercise.
The Seven-member committee was agreed upon between rival SLFA factions at the meeting with President Koroma at State House. The two factions have three members each in the committee.
The committee’s original tLe 200million budget was slashed to Le 150 million.
Analysts say the current situation could only prolong the paralysis in the SLFA and wreck Sierra Leone Football even further.
The committee was set up to identify delegates who will attend the next elective SLFA congress which was scheduled to take place this month, a timeline that now seems dead in the water.
(C) Politico 29/06/16
