March 11, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
All is not well between the National Sports Authority (SNA) and the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), according to football fans in the country.
The frosty situation has been described as a cold war, a battle of supremacy at a wrong time when hands must be on deck to ensure that Leone Stars emerges victorious against Lesotho and Benin at the end of the month.
The crux of the matter revolves around the appointments of Babadi Kamara as Team Manager and Ernest Kamara as Kits Manager through a recent press release by the association.
The NSA viewed the appointments as contravention of Section 23 of their Act, stating that SLFA had no right to do such appointments without consulting the Executive Director in the person of Dr. Kenneth Brima.
The Authority’s Public Relations Officer, Eric Batilo informed this medium that where SLFA got it wrong was when they made the appointment without consultation.
He said even FIFA encourages active collaboration, noting that when NaCOVERC wanted to lift the ban on sports, the SNA ensured that SLFA was involved in the arrangement.
He furthered stated that the Authority is not in any way trying to question the pedigree of the appointees but rather trying to ensure that due process is followed.
The SLFA has not officially reacted to the appointment issue but our sources revealed that the association has no regret over its action maintaining that the appointment of Coach is the only position the SLFA has right to consult over.
It could be recalled that the Sports Ambassador, Junior Bio and the Minister of Sports overseeing the forty-nine sporting disciplines existing in the country, have called for collaboration between SLFA and the legislated authorities such as the Ministry of Sports and SNA.
In a letter addressed to the SNA by FIFA dated 7th January, 2021, the world body called for active collaboration for the progress of the game in the country.