The Sierra Leone Athletics Association athletes have on 15th June 2022 staged protest which is described as baseless at the National Olympic Committee Office at Howe Street in Freetown.
According to the athletes they stage the peaceful demonstration for the regeneration of the President of the Athletics Association who doubles as the Vice President of the National Olympics Committee Alhaji Abdul Karim Sesay. They noted that Alhaji Abdul Karim Sesay lost the elections conducted by the Association in April this year and that they are expecting him to hand over to the new president Martin Momoh Bangura.
The Athletes affirmed that there is a lot of competition that is coming for athletics in the country but they said they are not benefiting from it and that there is no support for athletics in the Country. They alleged that their money is usually withheld from the outgoing Executive and they replace the athletes with their relatives in commonwealth competitions among other things. They, therefore, are there for calling on the Government through the Ministry of Sport to intervene in the current impasse in the Association and curtail the long-suffering in athletics in the country.
It could be recalled that the Sierra Leone Athletics Association held their Elective Congress on the 9th of April 2022 at the Olympia Africa Godrich where Martin Momoh Bangura was elected as President of the Association, but the elective Congress was not recognized by the International Athletics Federation because the executive of Martin Momoh Bangura had on two occasions take the Association to court, because according to the incumbent Alhaji Abdul Karim Sesay he said they do not have the right to go for the third term and it was not in the Constitution of the Federation, decision members voted for during an Extra-Ordinary Congress that there should be the third term.
Emeric Cole the Vice President 2 of the Sierra Leone Athletics Association said the Protest is unnecessary because the choice of chosen athletes was done by all members and the long lists was presented to the National Olympic Committee for the upcoming games and if any competition at hand they will choose from the long list that was presented to the National Olympic Committee.
He affirmed that there is a policy by the (IWAF) that for Competition athletes want to embark on there must be trials or Championships and from the trials or Championships, they will have to choose the best ones that should represent the Federations in any international competition. He nothing that since they came to power in 2011 no athletes has been left out of a Championship and they have chosen the best of athletes to represent the Country.
Emeric Cole further that the Elections that were held on the 9th of June 2022 were not recognized by the International body and the entire process leading to the Elections was not transparent and the court placed an injunction that was never lifted and that is why the legal team at the (IAAF) does not recognize the elections and they are not going to work with the new Executive, he pointed out that just after the elections there were protests sent to the IAAF by aggrieved members who were not allowed to vote. He said some complained that the process of the Congress was not properly done and in all of these the International body decided not to work with new Executive.
The Sierra Leone Athletics Association has a series of competitions at hand key among are the Commonwealth games, the World Championships in America, the Africa Championship, and the Koya Turkey games.
According to Alie Joshua Public Relations, one of the Sierra Leone Athletics Association under the new Executive said the protest of the athletes was done mainly to put a stop to the internal fighting within the Association and some of these athletes have taken the Sports as their career and that is why they are in support of the protest. He noted the progress of the Association has been stalled because the outgoing executive has not been promoting the athletes.
He added that there is a clause in the Association that states that the outgoing Executive should hand Over Power within one week leading to the elections, and in all these, it is yet to be done by the outgoing Alhaji Abdul Karim Sesay.
