By Saio Marrah
The President of the Sierra Leone Swimming Association, Mohamed Abul Turay has officially declared his intention of contesting for Presidency of the National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone (NOC SL) with the promise to bring ‘’exemplary transformation into sports disciplines’’.
He made his declaration at the National Sports Authority (NAS) in Freetown on Friday 2nd December, 2022, ahead the of elections scheduled for the 10th December this year.
He will joining three other candidates, all sporting Association presidents, Badminton’s Michael Mustapha, Table Tennis’ Kelvin Ezekiel Kellie, and Prince Suale of Wrestling, for the NOC SL presidential race.
Turay said he intends to change the obvious concerns facing sports that include ’the lack of transparency in institutions, about the crop of athletes presented on the international stage, the gender biasness that he claimed is exhibited in the devolution of roles, alienation of the media, and bureaucracy.
He accused some people of not having served well but still want to be marked as good example that still ‘’want to lord themselves over all by questionable means’’.
“We know the change we desire cannot happen by retaining the status quo. A good leader is all we need to effect the transformation we s crave for”, Turay said.
He spoke of introducing exemplary transformation amidst what he said has been a ‘’torturous journey’’ that has seen a fall in the interest of sports, the collapse of administrations, and the ‘unsavoury’ practice in the selection of athletes, amidst other major concerns.
He promised to embark on ‘transparency, inclusiveness, capacity building and robust media collaboration.
Turay promised to organise regular media briefings to demonstrate transparency and accountability, provide correct nutrition to enhance the performance of athletes, promote fair national trials and hold campings for athletes.
According to him, he had seen the difficulties in the sporting disciplines while serving as executive member of the NOC’s Swimming, Diving and Water Polo Association.
If elected, he promised to solicit funding to support the operations of sporting associations, and work with government to develop facilities for training of athletes before any outing.
He said he will create NOC an online TV and social media platform to ease information flow concerning the work of committee.
Taking sports to schools, design athletes development support pathways for correct training, are among the other initiatives he promised to bring to the sporting disciplines.
He boasted that under his leadership as the president of swimming association, members went for training to the United States of America and that people participated in sporting activities in various continents.
‘Having been around sports administration for over twenty years, I understand what it means to deliver professional and competent leadership as displayed by my track record,’ Turay boasts.
While responding to questions, he promised to work with all and sundry and not to witch-hunt anyone if he won the election. He was quick to state but he will support any other winner.
The current NOC SL president, Dr. Patrick Coker, will not be contesting having exhausted his tenure.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online
