By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
This week, a new episode of the football soap opera unfolded. As usual the drama unfolded in front of a grand audience on the social media platform, Whatsapp.
This fresh row surrounded the request by the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) for East End Lions and FC Kallon to return their trophies.
The FA wrote to teams to return their trophies on Friday 18th October and later wrote a press release on the 22nd of October disassociating itself with the letter.
However, it is important to note that both documents came from different offices within the FA; the Director of Competition, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay and the Head of Media, Ibrahim Kamara.
In a press release on Tuesday, SLFA wrote: “The Executive Committee of the Sierra Leone Football Association would like to inform the public that it disassociates itself from statements circulating in social media relating to requests allegedly made by the SLFA to Premiere League clubs to surrender their trophies for the 2018/2019 national league.”
The above statement was condemning the statement that was written by Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, Director of Competitions at the FA.
Sesay’s letter which was written 72 hours earlier than the SLFA press release, stateds: “I write with instructions from the General Secretary of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Mr. Christopher Kamara, to kindly request for the return of the 2018/2019 Premier League Runners-up trophy to the secretariat of the SLFA on or before Tuesday, 22nd October instant.”
The Administrative Secretary of East End Lions, Abdul Karim Kabba confirmed to Politico that they received the letter from the FA.
“I received the letter and I signed for it”, Kabba said.
Secretary General of FC Kallon, Alhaji Komba told Politico that he even went a step ahead to confirm the source of the letter.
“I didn’t just receive the letter, I made follow up by calling the Director of Competitions at the SLFA. And he told me yes, he wrote the letter on the directives of the General Secretary,” Komba said.
Director of Competitions at the SLFA, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, who authored the letter, confirmed that he wrote it the instructions of the General Secretary.
So, all these circumstances beg the following questions:
Did the General Secretary, Chris Kamara who is the administrative head of the FA, instruct Sorie Ibrahim Sesay to write a letter on Friday and then instruct Ibrahim Kamara to write a press release on Tuesday, disassociating the FA from the letter Sesay wrote?
Could it be that at least one of the two documents (the press release or the letter) did not get the required go-ahead?
If both got the go-ahead then it must have been from the General Secretary, if not so then could it be that the SLFA is lying about one of these documents?
Or did Chris Kamara instruct Sesay to write the letter without the necessary consultation or approval from the Executive Committee (Exco)?
If this is the case, how long has this been going on?
All the above questions point to a general situation of chaos within the FA’s hierarchy.
To clarify some of these questions, Politico contacted Head of Media, Ibrahim Kamara who said they have nothing more to add to their Tuesday statement.
“We cannot say anything more than what we have already said on the disclaimer.”
Sesay was also contacted and his response was even a bit more shocking.
In a brief telephone interview with Politico on Wednesday, Sesay said: “Haven’t you read the letter? The letter said I am directed. It is not an issue anymore. We wrote the letter and we have disclaimed it. So just forget it.”
Sesay’s point could basically be understood that the FA can write one thing and turn back and say another thing that contradicts it, all within a week. A situation of chaos cannot be painted more accurately.
He added: “The secretariat is being supervised by the General Secretary, the General Secretary gave me instructions to write the letter, so if the Exco said No, what do we do?”
What happens now?
It is hard to tell why the FA backtracked so fast on its own instruction. FC Kallon Secretary General, Komba told Politico that it must be based on the backlash they received on social media regarding this.
“Maybe after they had seen comments on social media about the request maybe that is why they changed their mind and sent this latest situation as a damage control,” he said.
Both teams have not spoken on their intentions to return the trophies anyway. Kabba said East End Lions executive would have to meet to decide like that.
“The executive is yet to meet, because that is a decision for them. When once they meet, we will come out with a statement on that,” Kabba said.
What perhaps very few people have noticed is that, whiles all this pandemonium is going on, this puts some extra pressure on the new Premier League Board (PLB). The Premier League Board was announced on Thursday, 17th October and the first thing the FA did was to write a letter the following day and request for the trophies.
In the process they usurped the responsibility of the PLB and made their job even more tedious. The goodwill around the FA is crumbling and the debris might just hit this new PLB.
There is no silver lining to all these dramatic episodes that unfold before us. The casualties of war will always be the players and the fans. Those in the new administrative building in Kingtom should focus on doing their job right.
And be careful not to write another letter followed by a disclaimer.
© 2019 Politico Online
