By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
The Sierra Leone Football Association has on 3rd March 2023 Suspended Premier League Referee Sailba Njai fondly called (Mararazza) from all Football activities for one month following his poor performance in a league match between Port Authority FC and Lamboi FC on the 27th February 2023 at the Brima Attouga Mini Stadium in Freetown.
The Referees Committee handed down the ban after thorough investigations proved that Njai deliberately failed to acknowledge the Assistant Referees flag for two balls on the pitch and rather awarded a direct free kick to Port Authority FC which led to a controversial goal. The said controversy led to an attack by fans on the Assistant Referee, exposing his life to danger.
The SLFA Referees Committee would like to assure club owners, fans, and members of the general public that it will leave no stone turned in restoring sanity and Professional refereeing in the game of Football in Sierra Leone.
The Committee, therefore, calls on all Football fans to desist from attacking match officials and allow the due process of complaint and discipline of defaulting referees to prevail. It could be recalled that lots of matches have witnessed various attacks on referees, such happened in Port Loko, the match between Bai Bureh Warriors Football Club and FC Kallon where the match officials were attacked because of a decision making.