June 21, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY (LUCKY)
The triggering debate on Leone Stars meritorious historic journey to play the 2022 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon after twenty-five years, has actually necessitated the Courier to rebuke some social media posts posited by some renowned social media bloggers and mainstream Journalists that president Bio is undeservingly claiming accolade over Leone Stars historic victory against Benin.
I became more perturbed and least expects that my former Editor-In-Chief of Concord Times Newspaper Mr. Alusine Sesay are among those people who have been the purveyors of the campaign that the Leone Stars victory should not be owned by the Commander-In-Chief of the country who have invested so much in the sporting world in the country since he took over governance in 2018.
I initially had no intention to comment on our celebrated sojourn to Cameroon, but the innuendos posted by my former boss, the Editor-In-Chief of Concord Times Alusine Sesay on his face book page, actually precipitated the Courier’s perspectives on his post and by extension, the historic victory of Leones Stars in general. The innuendos read as follows: “This is Salon and Leone Stars represents the green, white and blue… nothing else. Stop the pettiness and allow things to flow. Cameroon here we come”. “When Zangalay missed the penalty he was nearly lynched but when Kai Kamara scored the penalty that took Leone Stars to AFCON, somebody hijacked the praise”. These were the direct words of Editor Alusine Sesay.
I would therefore like to chiefly elucidate that the Zangalay penalty missed syndrome as analogously situated by my learned Editor-In-Chief, is also analogously unmatched to the Kai Kamara situation. I was never in support of the public “crucifixion” of Zangalay and also the vandalism of his properties for missing that penalty.
However, such fans aggression on their favorite players who normally fail to make such decisive decision by scoring a goal that the fans needed the most is always inevitable in the world of football.
Big players across the world including Ronaldinho of Brazil who had his house engulfed with an inferno by fans because the Brazil was defeated by France in the 2006 World Cup Tournament.
Also, I would want to ask my Editor-In-Chief as a father if he tries by all his might, invests huge amount of money on the schooling of his children with the aim of the children to be very successful and in turn, those children became either medical doctors, lawyers as the case may be, who do you think will have the praise for such achievement of such children? If the answer is the father or parents, then who else deserves the Praise of Leone Stars victory other than president Bio with his indefatigable supports to the team? I agree that the victory of Leone Stars over Benin which has secured our place in the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon is in the best interest of the Green, White and Blue. But what I have not fathomed from the post of my former editor is the aspect alluding that somebody has hijacked the praise of Kai Kamara for taking his country to the African Cup of Nations.
My former Editor-In-Chief of Concord Times Alusine Sesay might also be losing sight of the fact that on any successful sojourn towards national development, there must be the political wheel which helps propelled such national development and that is exactly what the Bio led government has been doing in the sporting world in the country. In case one may want to forget, there is an adage which says, the leadership of a nation takes all the praises for any good thing that happen and equally takes the blame for any retrogression in the country.
It has been very visible to the blind and also audible to the deaf to have seen and heard about the unprecedented financial and moral supports President Bio has been showering on the players of Leone Stars and other sporting discipline in the country. Such unflinching support from the president has been unmatched to any past government since independent.
The Bio led government released over six billion Leones towards Leone Stars-Benin game which was staged in Guinea, as part of the facilitation, mobility, aid support and match allowances for players etc. He also motivated the players by making a gigantic promise of ten thousand United States dollars for each player if they qualify their country to the Nations Cup which is now a done deal. Thus, how could one take away such historic victory praise from someone who is so passionate about sport but football in particular? Who else deserves the Praise of Leone Stars victory other than President Bio?
A president that has rendered a plot of land and one hundred million Leones (Le100 million) each to the players.
The president has also put all the players on a monthly salary until they depart for Cameroon in January 2022.
This also is an uncontestable, undisputable truism and without any political sentiment that since the New Direction Government led by the Brigadier himself took over governance in April 2018, football and other sport related activities were completely buried ninety-five feet underground. With the advent of this visionary president, the un-locker of the hidden secret in the sport discipline has after twenty-five years, unlocked, transmogrified and revived sport with specificity to football in the country. He has invested Billions of Leones to recuperate the local sports and that has created more jobs for youth in that direction. Premier league teams are now paid subventions so that the teams can now pay monthly salaries to their players, and also for running cost for the teams.
Align with his New Direction manifesto commitment towards sport in the country, the most exemplary character in the Leone Stars historic sojourn to Cameroon, also increased budgetary support to sporting activities in particular football, athletics, cricket, volley ball and basketball respectively. In late 2018 to early 2019, his government supports the national team and all the premier league teams with the sum of about three billion Leones (Le 3 billion) as subvention. He also honored over one billion seven hundred million Leones (Le 1.7 billion) in 2020.
In my concluding statement, I want to pose this question again to my most leaned Editor Alusine Sesay of Concord Times that, with all the historic finance support from the Bio led government to the national team, what in the circumstance our darling Leone Stars won the 2022 African Cup of Nations? And to whom will you appropriate such accolade to? I hope nobody will want to tell me that only the players will received the praise, and forget the financial and motivational supporter who happens to be the president. On the other side of the pendulum, if the Bio led government had failed to provide the required financial and moral supports to the players and in turn, the players performed terribly in the just concluded decisive match between Leone Stars and Benin, I am certain that the government would have been seriously castigated and lampooned. Therefore my former Editor-In-Chief of Concord Times, Kai Kamara was neither hijacked of his praise for scoring that penalty, nor taken his honor away for taken his country to Cameroon. Equally so, the meritorious accolades citizens are showering on president Bio for ensuring that financial support and moral support are always available to the national team his greatly commendable and has boosted the player financially.