By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Chairman of the Premier League Board (PLB), Alieu Vandy Korma, has told Politico on Wednesday that they will use the Le1.7 billion from government to settle debts they owed since the start of the league in December.
Koroma made this comment amidst demands from teams to get a portion of the money.
“Basically, we have been taking bank overdraft and the bank has even taken their money. Even the Le 75 million that we gave teams as seed money. So right now, we just have about Le 700 million and we have to pay other suppliers,” Koroma said.
“Our priority is to offset the debts that we have accrued and after that, if there is any balance, we will see. But we are not considering teams right now,” he added.
Koroma said the money will be used to pay the Red Cross, ticketing agents and other accrued expenditures.
None of the 14 premier league teams have formally expressed their opinions, but officials have been discussing the possibility of having a cut.
On Wednesday, news broke out that the Government of Sierra Leone has finally honored part of their commitment by giving the board Le 1.7 billion to the Koroma led PLB.
The Sierra Leone Premier League and all other sporting activities in the country have been halted as a part of measures to prevent the Coronavirus outbreak reaching the country.
As a result, teams are struggling to pay players and honor their other obligations. Most teams in the league rely heavily on gate takings and seed money to pay their bills.
Koroma said they are hoping to receive some more money from the government. The league was expected to go for a break before it was halted almost two weeks ago now.
“We don’t know how much more we will receive but going by the statement of the Finance Minister in Parliament that they will give us more money compared to what they gave last season, your guess is as good as mine,” he said.
Last year, the PLB received Le 3.5 billion from government to revive the league.
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