Isha Johansen & Sepp Blatter
A group of football administrators in Sierra Leone has said it will petition President Ernest Bai Koroma to consider “setting up a judicial inquiry to investigate the activities of the Sierra Leone Football Association.”
The organisation, opposed to the leadership of the SLFA president Isha Johansen, said that “for the beauty of the game, efficient and effective administration of resources is highly required...the young people whose livelihood hinge on football and football-related activities can only survive when the right and proper things are done.”
In the statement that appears to be timed for the FIFA elections taking place at the end of the month...the Unisa Alim Sesay led Football Stakeholders argued that “the reformed FIFA should refrain from supporting, condoning and pampering administrations like the former Isha Johansen led administration in Sierra Leone that have despite numerous calls...failed to give account, both financially and governance-wise, to its members”.
They added that the world governing football body “must no longer just issue a blank cheque of trust and belief to national football administrations, but must ensure that the voices of the football stakeholders be recognized and respected”.
The stakeholders called on FIFA to “do everything possible and within its power to discourage the conduct of rogue and unfair elections particularly at the national football administration levels”, citing the 3, August 2013 elections that brought Johansen to power.
They welcomed FIFA president Sepp Blatter's decision to step down “in the midst of the alarming corruption allegations in the high governing body of FIFA”, and called on the world body “to mount a rigorous investigation into the allegation and ensure that the culprits are brought to book and the credibility of the Association which has come into question in recent weeks fully restored.”
(C) Politico 16/02/16
