By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
SLFA President Babadi Kamara says the introduction and strict implementation of FIFA Connect has transformed the administration of football in Sierra Leone, insisting that the current league is being run with unprecedented transparency and professionalism.
According to Babadi Kamara, one of the clearest signs of that progress is that, unlike previous seasons, no club has been awarded points through administrative decisions.
“Before this time, by now in our league people would’ve been winning points on the table. I’m proud of myself, my Executive Committee members and the staff of the Federation for stating here, without being biased or untruthful, that for the first time we are playing a league without teams winning points on the table. This is made possible through FIFA Connect.”
Babadi said that after becoming SLFA President, he discovered that the management of player registration and transfers was not being conducted as it should have been.
“What used to happen was that they would announce the opening of the transfer window and later announce that the window had closed, but that was never the truth. I got to discover that when I became president.”
He further disclosed that although the SLFA already possessed FIFA Connect, the federation was not fully utilising the system. Instead, league fixtures were allegedly being generated using unofficial software.
“The Federation had FIFA Connect, but they were doing fixtures using fictitious software when the FIFA Connect given to them was good enough to do fixtures.”
Determined to change that culture, Babadi Kamara said he refused to continue with practices he believed undermined the credibility of Sierra Leone football.
“I decided to take a firm stand and said, ‘No, this cannot continue to happen. We cannot keep doing things the Sierra Leone way; we have to do things the professional way.'”
The reforms, he admitted, were met with resistance from different quarters, including some of his own supporters, who pressured him to reopen the transfer window.
“There were a lot of calls. The grumbling was all over the place, including from people who supported me, asking me to open the window. A lot was said, but I did not listen.”
Babadi Kamara furthered by saying that meaningful support for his leadership means allowing him to implement reforms without compromise.
“I said to them, ‘When you support me to win, you must support me to succeed. And the only way to support me to succeed is when you allow me to do things the right way.”