Sports Ministry & SLFA Tussle Over Coach By Adeyemi Jackson Reports reaching this medium indicate that there is disagreement between the Ministry of Sports and the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) as to who should appoint a head coach for the national team, Leone Stars ahead of its encounter with Cameroon in the African Nations Cup qualifying series. The reports claim that the Minister of Sports, Mr. Paul Kamara and officials of SLFA had consented to appoint Atto Mensah and John Sama as head coach for the national team for the African Nations Cup qualifying series including the Cameroon match on the condition that the Minister presents their credentials to SLFA. When the Minister failed to produce the certificates of Atto Mensah and John Sama, SLFA then appointed John Agina Sesay head coach. What is confusing is that the SLFA Secretary General, Christian Kamara defended the Association on AYV Radio that the Association did not succumb to the Minister’s appointment of Atto Mensah and John Sama. He further clarified that SLFA told the Minister that it would only accept his appointees when their coaching certificates are presented but asserted that the Minister is arguing that SLFA had agreed to the appointment of the two. The Ministry has gone ahead to send Atto Mensah to Cameroon as coach of the national team ahead of this weekend’s match while SLFA has also dispatched its own coach for the same match, a development that is a concern to football fans. It could be recalled that the tension between the two started after the Minister sacked the former coach Mackinstry for the 2-0 dismal performance of the national team in D.R. Congo that left the team at the bottom of the table with the slight possibility of qualifying. On 7th October this year, the Minister threatened to dissolve SLFA without consulting football’s world governing body, FIFA, if it does not work with his two appointees. Nevertheless, SLFA is accusing the Minister of interfering in the administration of football that CAF and FIFA frowns at with the possibility of suspending or banning the national team from international competitions. According to the 1960 Sport Council Act, SLFA is responsible for the management and promotion of all football-related activities in and out of the country while the Ministry of Sport should provide support and supervisory role. Many Sierra Leoneans have criticized the SLFA President, Madam Isha Johansen for singlehandedly running the Association without other stakeholders since her election.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 10:15:19 +0000
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