By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
In order to run a very competitive league in the country, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) intends to introduce a new football ecosystem that will see the scaling down of the number of male premier league teams from the present eighteen to twelve by the 2026/2027 league season.
This pronouncement was made by the President of SLFA, Thomas Daddy Brima during the SLFA Ordinary Congress that started on the 4th and ended 6th July, 2023 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Freetown.
According to Brima his administration will not only reduce the male premier teams, but will also reduce the number of teams in the female premier league from twelve to ten by 2024/2025 league season. He added that his administration will ensure a uniform Maximum number of teams in Division 1 & 2 in all regions and districts and will formally launch the female Division 2 league.
He stated that he will also launch a new league to be called National Championship comprising of 10 teams, a league that will abolish playoffs to the Premier League. He also promised to introduce the National Under15 boys’ tournament and work on introducing Under12, Under14 and Under16 in the next two years. He also vowed to launch the football for schools’ programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Education.
Brima noted that his administration has signed a contract of agreed objectives with FIFA to renovate and upgrade the current SLFA Headquarters and Technical Centre by March 2024 so that it can be used as a match venue for local league matches at various levels (male/female) and host technical/administrative capacity-building courses. He also stated that the contract signed will include the construction of a new National Technical Centre by March 2025 in partnership with the local authorities and in line with the FIFA Technical Development Centre Guidelines so that national teams can be accommodated during training camps and host high-level SLFA, CAF, and FIFA courses at the facility.
He further stated that the objective of the contract will support the operations of the SLFA secretariat, the regions, and the leagues (male/female) by purchasing one 46-seater bus, two 34-seater buses, one 18-seater passenger van, one sport utility vehicle, and a maximum of 160 motorbikes by the end of 2023. He said he will ensure proper use and maintenance of the aforementioned organizational assets under a new SLFA vehicle policy.
The SLFA Boss went on to state that his administration will review and modernize the SLFA statutes at all levels including districts and regional statutes by the end of 2024 in order to meet the SLFA’s changing needs and the governance requirements of FIFA and CAF.
He promised to employ a Commercial Director by the end of 2023 to grow the SLFA’s revenue sustainability including, the development and implementation of a new SLFA brand strategy by the end of 2024 with an annual target of at least USD 50,000 (fifty thousand dollars) in sponsorship revenue as from the start of 2025.
This was SLFA’s first Ordinary congress since Brima assumed office two years ago.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (10/07/23)
