SIERRA LEONE CAN HOST A MAJOR FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT It is pretty obvious that the patriotic architects who had selflessly participated in designing President Ernest Bai Koroma’s Agenda For Prosperity must have taken into consideration the social positives of football in Sierra Leone and how the country can effectively benefit from the promotional derivatives of this globally popular sports. Even though we have not yet been able to repeat the feat of the nineties when we went on to win two Amilcar Cabral trophies and even participated twice in the finals of the African Cup of Nations, yet, it’s high time Sierra Leone hosted a major football tournament in the country. I’m sure, with President Ernest Bai Koroma’s soaring image in world politics, I’m quite certain that, once the decision is reached, we stand a competitive advantage to win any bid. To make my case, I’ve decided to feature South Africa because of the similar circumstances that surrounded our two countries’ emergence from daunting political and socio-economic difficulties. To a distant football fan like myself, the FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, will remain a laudable administrator who has successfully transformed the art of football into a reputable institution that maintains world standards. Endowed with the broad wisdom of inclusive politics in sports, he single-handedly initiated the expansion of team participation in the World Cup to proportionately make room for the fast-increasing growth of the global sports. Had Blatter’s corridor politics not played a pivotal role in the established policy of host selection, Japan and South Korea might have stood no chance of competing against the reputational and economic might of the other favourable bidders. But perhaps, the most phenomenal victory he was able to record in the history of his organisational prowess was giving South Africa a chance to host the 2010 World Cup. The whole world knew what South Africa went through in terms of suffering and degradation during the Apartheid era. Retrospectively, the world was also in a state of conscience-indebtedness to reward the South Africans as an emerging democracy after Nelson Mandela has ascended to the throne. The shrewd Blatter, riding on a popular bliss of wisdom, seized the moment that the world had been waiting for to launch a campaign of reimbursement consolation that saw the South Africans winning the hosting rights of the 2010 World Cup event. Undoubtedly, throughout all that prudent and careful planning, Sepp Blatter was definitely not alone! Among other prominent sports officials, African Football heads, including the President of the African Football Association (CAF) was also playing in the same team, just behind the scenes of the diplomatic attacking line. This meant, the versatile Issa Ayatou, supposedly well enlightened about the sufferings of Sierra Leoneans during the senseless rebel war, will not flinch at all if a proposal to host Zone II or the African Cup of Nations should appear on his desk. Similar to the South Africans, our recent national elections can stand out as a comprehensive testimony to the fact that we have come of age and taken a huge step in our stride towards the restoration of a full-fledged democracy. Therefore, it is high time Sierra Leone benefited from some sort of a regional or continental endorsement far from the firing line of the warfront to another venue on the pitch. To further consolidate this point, we have seen many activities from visiting football celebrities like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Graig Belamy, and many more showing up regularly to boost the morale of football revival in Sierra Leone. In the same wavelength, the opportunity to host the Zone II or the African Cup of Nations will not only create the conducive atmosphere to replenish the war-ravaged image of the country, but will also augment President Ernest Bai Koroma’s Agenda For Prosperity drive with the massive economic benefits that stand to be derived. Throughout the globe, providing youth with job opportunities has become a serious challenge for the government of the day. Hosting the African Cup of Nations will surely open up immense opportunities for youth employment as new stadia, hospitals, hotels, parks, tourist resorts, etc will all be constructed or refurbished to befit the tournament hosting. An opportunity will also be presented for the government to revamp the Ministry of Tourism and rebrand the image of Mama Salone after a decade in the nineties when the country was well remembered for all the wrong reasons! It will surprise many to know that there are striking similarities between Sierra Leone and South Africa. The independence anniversaries of both sisterly countries are celebrated on the 27th of April! The two states can literally measure up in terms of deposits of natural endowments. At some point, we even competed with them in the mining of diamonds, gold, Iron ore, etc! Again, almost all the football matches we have played had ended in a draw! However, thankful we shall remain to countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, etc among others, for the unflinching support we received from them through the exemplary regional body ECOWAS which speedily deployed its military wing, [the ECOMOG], to stop the rebels from perpetrating further destruction of our country, and henceforth brought peace to our beloved country. We are quite certain that, once the proposal of Sierra Leone hosting Zone II or the African Cup of Nations is put on floor, we can surely count on their votes. Those who stood with us in times of difficulties will surely lend us their support when we do venture on a proposals of this magnitude, for our prospective economic successes will be theirs to share! Even Sepp Blatter will wholeheartedly be willing to play ball and endorse Sierra Leone!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:28:48 +0000
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