By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Sierra Leone Football Association has announced a collaboration with the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, in the fight against COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. The collaboration was announced in a joint press statement on Friday.
The collaboration with UNICEF is the latest action of the FA in national efforts against COVID-19. It has already loaned its headquarters to the national COVID-19 response team.
The FA is also contemplating using the latest tranche of FIFA funding in the COVID-19 fight.
UNICEF, which is the specialized United Nations agency dealing with children and adolescents, will work with the football association to harness the power of football to reach thousands of youths across the country with COVID-19 messages, through “communication and advocacy.”
The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding committing them to help local football players engage in public sensitization around the Corona virus disease, according to the statement.
“This initiative reaffirms UNICEF’s commitment to collaborate with different stakeholders towards the common goal of overcoming this disease and allow all children and their families to return to their daily lives,” UNICEF representative, Dr Suleiman Braimoh, was quoted in the joint press statement.
SLFA President, Isha Johansen, said: “In a country like ours, where the power and language of football is entrenched across society, our players are household names and we recognize that messages from them will have a positive impact, particularly on the country’s youths.”
Football is by far the most popular sport in the country, with millions supporting different football teams at home and abroad.
UNICEF and the FA will use male and female footballers in messages that will be designed to reach young people across the country.
A dozen footballers will be used in the project, eight male and four female. Some of the players include; Musa “Tombo” Kamara, Suffian “Tormentor” Kalokoh, Rashidatu Kamara, and Isatu Dumbuya.
Like many other activities in the country, football has been grinded to a halt, leaving hundreds of footballers stranded, as a result of the pandemic.
As COVID-19 case numbers continue to soar, there are real concerns that the country’s top league might be cancelled.
As of Saturday, Sierra Leone had recorded 291 COVID-19 cases in total.
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