ACTUALITE |
18.03.2004
Sierra Leone sack FA
Sierra Leone`s Football Association (SLFA) has been dissolved in order to settle a long-standing problem that has paralysed football in the country.
The impasse concerned who had the legitimate authority to administer the game in the country and under which constitution the SLFA`s elective congress should be conducted.
There were allegations that the SLFA was operating under three constitutions, which forced interested parties to seek a high court declaration as to which actual constitution governed the administration of the game in Sierra Leone.
No league football has been played in the last eight months as a result of the infighting at the SLFA.
The decision to dissolve the body, led by Justice Tolla Thompson since 1996, was made by the country`s president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah who was forced to intervene, following public pressure to rescue the sport from imminent collapse.
Kabbah`s act followed a lengthy meeting in Freetown with SLFA executives and congress members who have voting rights.
The parties at the centre of the current dispute have agreed to drop their court action, which was a pre-condition for dissolving the SLFA.
A seven-man interim body will be formed to run affairs of the SLFA until elections are held to elect new executive.
The interim body, which will be composed of former FA congress and executive members and officials of the National Sports Council, have already been given the mandate to resolve outstanding matters before elections are held.
Alhaji Unisa Sesay, who resigned from the SLFA executive in January and led the campaign to unseat former chairman Tolla Thompson, told the BBC Sport website that Kabbah`s intervention was a timely act.
"I believe it is the best thing that has happened to Sierra Leonean football in recent times.
"The Tolla Thompson led executive has failed the nation by wrecking the game," said Sesay.
Efforts to get reactions from former SLFA executive members have been futile.
But some commentators have frowned at the president`s decision, which could be regarded a violation of Fifa regulations forbidding political interference in football association matters.
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Hits: 1 | Source:BBC | |
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