By Mohamed Foday Conteh
The President of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), Thomas Daddy Brima has in a video message on social media reacted after the list of players to benefit from the incentives by President Julius Maada Bio indicated the omitting of the names of two players Musa Noah Kamara alias Musa Tombo and Saidu Mansaray alias Malian.
Brima said that there has been no foul play and that the SLFA had been just, in preparing the list. He said that difficulties ensued because the first list presented to the President before the initial date for the called -off match in Freetown had already been signed by the President.
Brima refuted allegations that SLFA together with the National Sports Authority (NSA) had withheld some of the players’ money. He said that after concerns from the public with regards Kamara and Mansaray, whose names were not on the list, he tried to be magnanimous proposing another list. However, Brima said that other players who were part of the team in the other qualifying matches other than Benin cried foul play. “Their (Kamara and Mansaray) names were not on the list because they were not part of the original squad,” Brima said.
Each of the 30 players received $10,000 and 29 of them also getting a plot of land. Rodney Strasser, former AC Milan midfielder and 11 other players also did not benefit from the extra bonus.
President Bio had honoured a pledge he made to players with the national football team Leone Stars and officials, should they beat Benin and qualify for the African Cup of Nations (AfCON) tournament in Cameroon next January. Sierra Leone defeated their opponents in Conakry by a goal to nil after veteran striker, Kei Kamara converted from the spot in the 19th minute of the game.
The match was postponed twice, after rows over COVID-19 test results ensued between the two countries. The first postponement was in Freetown when 6 Benin players including team Captain Adenon and former Huddersfield FC striker Steve Mounie’ failed COVID-19 tests about a couple of hours before the match. The match was shifted to a neutral venue, Conakry, Guinea where test results indicated a number of Sierra Leonean players had tested posited for COVID-19 minutes to the start of the crucial match.
Sierra Leone officials contested the results, alleging that they have been concocted, referencing an earlier clearance message from the Liberian match official that informed them that the test results were all negative. Leone Stars officials had claimed that only two players failed the test.
Musa Noah Kamara (Tombo) and Saidu Mansaray (Malian) were called to replace the two players that tested positive for COVD-19 prior their travel in Conakry.
People are questioning why the pair failed to make the list of beneficiaries. Both Kamara and Mansaray didn’t make an appearance in the match against Benin.
Some Leone Stars supporters are of the notion that the list was manipulated by either the SLFA or the National Sports Authority (NSA).
Some other players that were drafted in the other qualifying matches failed to make the list. Brima however reiterated that the promise of President Bio was only for participants in the Benin clash.
Football lovers believe that there is a new dawn in football as the country goes into its first AfCON tournament in 25 years.
Copyright © 05/07/21 Politico Online
