Freetonian SLIFA Football has on 23rd January 2023 in Press Release decided to suspend their participation in the ongoing Sierra Leone Premier League.
The Club said it was extremely disappointed in the spate of terrible Officiating from the referee’s department in the ongoing Sierra Leone Premier League 2022/2023, especially in the match Port Authority FC vs Freetonian SLIFA, it is with deep regret that we are suspending our participation on all matches until further notice.
The Club pointed out that they want the League to be put on hold until article (45) of the Constitution of the Sierra Leone Football Association is met.
According to article (45), it stated that the Referees Committee shall implement and interpret the laws of the game, and shall appoint the referees for matches in the competition organized by SLFA.
The Club State that it would like to express its deepest and most sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by this suspension of our participation and the hold of the league, noting it remains focused and appreciates the understanding as they want to ensure the safety of the players, Club Officials, and fans.
Sources say that the Club CEO put up sportsmanlike behavior as he tried to put the game into dispute by calling on his players not to continue playing again in the match.
Benjamin Gordon said this is not the first time his team has faced bad officiating from the referees that normally handle Freetonian SLIFA matches in the Premier League even though clubs are spending huge sums of money to prepare teams ahead of match day in the ongoing Premier League.
In another development, the UNION OF PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS (UPLC-SL) in a Press Release called for the club to get rethink their actions and also join them in condemning the poor officiating. The Union of Premier League club’s statement reads.
The attention of the Union of Premier League Clubs (UPLC-SL) has been drawn to the Club Statement of FREETOWNIANS SLIFA dated Monday 23rd January 2023. The said club’s decision was reached because of the many unfair and poor officiating of matches. Many clubs have been meted down with the same poor and unfair officiating. Thus, leading to one of our members suspending its participation.
As the major partner in the development of the game, the Union in the strongest regard condemns the high level of unfair officiating and urgently requests professionalism amongst referees in the process of executing their tasks. Poor and unfair officiating hold no place in our game, but rather a continuation of such only leaves our game to degenerate.
Similarly, since we understand the frustration and severity of the consequences of unprofessional officiating, however, the Union calls on the Management of FREETOWNIANS SLIFA to kindly rethink its decision as we look to amicably solve the current matter as well as prevent future occurrences.
Moreover, as a very responsible Union, we as well condemn club officials who had brutally targeted referees and brought violence to them as they discharge their functions. The game must be civil and played decently, without any fear and favor.
Finally, as the Union engages, authorities concerned are required to ensure that proper mechanisms for tolerance of professional conduct are put in place to save the soul of our beautiful game.
