By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Sierra Leone Premier League Board has recently announced the 18th November, 2022 as the commencement date of the 2022/2023 League Season. Football fans up and down the country had long waited for this. For a football league to begin in any country, certain criteria should be met for the league to be successful.
With just two weeks to go, let’s look at funding which is so crucial both for the organizers and the participating teams and I approach this aspect by asking the question: has the Premier League Board secured the necessary funding before commencing the league? My sources tell me that the newly established Premier League Board is yet to receive any money either from the government or the SLFA to run the league. As far as I know the PLB wants to maintain the already established date of November 18 to start the league.
In the middle of all this came news that our national team, Leone Stars was assembling in the Gulf city of Dubai to play two friendlies with the objective of keeping the players fit. They intend to spend money already released by the government for four friendlies two of which – against South Africa and D R Congo ended in absolute disaster.
With respect I want the SLFA to tell this nation what they aim to benefit from the coming friendlies in Dubai owing to the fact that they are not FIFA sanctioned friendlies. When the whole world is looking forward to the World Cup next door, our team will be having a nice holiday in Dubai.
With the local league starving to death, why can’t the money for those two friendlies in Dubai be transferred to PLB for the running of the league?
Are the authorities running our beautiful game that we love so much only focusing on the per diem they will be receiving if they travel out of the country in the name of pointless friendly matches?
FOOTBALL INFRASTRUCTURE
High quality Infrastructure also plays a pivotal role in the day-to-day running of football in any country. Football pitches should always be taken into consideration when proposing to start a league season. In the upcoming 2022/2023 Sierra Leone Premier League season, the National Stadium that has been the main venue for hosting majority of the matches in Freetown is under renovation. The other venues that have been hosting matches are not fit for purpose, which means a lot needs to be done before the league commences.
Thankfully Anti-Drugs FC that had been hosting matches at the Approved School playing field have been relegated from the league which may take that rocky pitch out of consideration, unless another team decides to use it as home ground. The Brima Attouga Mini Stadium at Cline town is also a threat to the wellbeing of players.
The Sierra Leone Football Association has been talking of spreading artificial turf in those fields to ease the always existing pressure of fixtures in the National Stadium, but that program is yet to begin. The conclusion I can draw from this is that players will be receiving more injuries while playing on such surfaces in Freetown. The venues in Kono, Makeni and Bo are well in place to host matches, but the threat lies in the capital.
In the 2021/2022 Premiere League season, football teams from Freetown were hosting their home matches away from home, either in Makeni or Bo due to the non-availability of venues in the Freetown which raised serious concerns from other clubs regarding possibilities for match-fixing.
Since the Southern Arena is near completion, are we also going to see more teams wanting to host their matches in that Arena?
To the Premier League Board, awarding points to opposing teams for pitch invasion, player misconduct and the rest are very old ways of levying punishment against football clubs. Followers of International leagues will attest to the fact that a football team’s point will only be taken away in the worst case scenario of the team not honoring the fixture. There is nothing like docking points from a team in this modern era because of crowd trouble, instead a fine and suspension of officials or players will be levied to those found wanting. Our rules should be revisited, to avoid shame on the International stage.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Poor officiating/refereeing has been vividly evident in some matches in both the 2021/2022 football league season and mini leagues in the country which needs serious attention. A referee was caught on camera talking on the phone while a match was ongoing, which shows the unprofessional attitude of some of those referees. They have been making bad judgments on the field either due to their personal attachment to some clubs or due to poor knowledge in interpreting the rules of the game. Referees should therefore be given further training to take care of the game and avoid embarrassment and issues with fans and players.
NEWLY PROMOTED CLUBS
New football teams have been promoted in the 2022/2023 Premiere League season. Clubs like Real Republicans, Luawa FC and Lamboi FC are new boys to watch in the upcoming campaign. Will they cause any upset for the old or regular boys in the league? We have to wait and see.
In the 2021/2022 football league season, Bo Rangers were crowned champions and represented Sierra Leone in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League. FC Kallon also represented the country in the Confederation Cup because East End Lions that emerged runners up in the league declined their representation. Both our representatives have been eliminated from the CAF Champions League and the Confederations Cup in the preliminary stage of those competitions. For the 2022/2023 Sierra Leone Premier League season, will Bo Rangers defend their title successfully?
Copyright (09/11/22)
