By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Nyelenkeh has said some members of the 43-man delegation travelling to Benin will be paying for themselves. Nyelenkeh made the clarification to Politico on Thursday evening following concerns about the size of the delegation travelling with the national team.
20 of the 43 people in the delegation are officials, these include 9 team officials. Among the list are names like Billy Parkinson, Alie Kadar and Charlie Bio whose inclusion have raised questions.
“These are my friends but they are not cheap. They have used their money to travel all over the place with the national team. They are buying tickets for themselves. Even if we budget for them finance will not agree to pay. This is what most people don’t understand,” Nyelenkeh said.
He added: “The reason why they are included in the delegation is because even the General Secretary, Chris Kamara told us that if citizens are travelling, they should be included in the delegation for their own protection.”
Other officials from the ministry who will be travelling with the team include, Dr Kenneth Brima, Alhaji Madi and the Minister of Sports himself.
A member of the Parliamentary Oversight committee on Sports, Ibrahim Tawa Conteh was also included in the list.
When the list was first announced last Saturday in a press conference, journalists expressed concerns about the size of the delegation comparatively to the difficult economic situation in the country.
The General Secretary of the Sierra Leone Football Association, Chris Kamara downplayed the concerns, saying: “the team is going to need the support”.
“I don’t know if there are Sierra Leoneans in Benin,” he added.
Lesotho travelled with a 26 man delegation to Freetown.
In an interview with the Head of Media at the FA, Ibrahim Kamara he said they can only account for the number of people they recommend.
“If you look at the list you can see players, technical officials and officials from the football association. The rest of the other names were sent by the Ministry (Ministry of Sport), we cannot justify their inclusion.” he said.
Most of the members of the delegation are set to leave Sierra Leone for Benin on Friday, 15th November.
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