By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Western Area Football Association (WAFA) has announced a US$ 20,000 sponsorship deal with the Nigerian-owned FBN bank.
The sponsorship is for the running of the Division 1 league that started on Sunday.
Secretary General of the association, Benjamin Gordon said the support came as a big boost to the league.
US$ 10,000 has been disbursed by the bank to WAFA for the first half of the league and the balance will be disbursed during the second half.
24 teams are set to participate in this year’s competition. The teams have been split into two groups of 12 each. One group will play their games in the east end of Freetown while the other will play in the west end of town.
The association has announced six venues across Freetown where the teams will be playing. They are the Sierra Leone Police field, Attouga Mini stadium, Approved School, Parade Grounds and Practicing Field.
“We are considering using the SLFA grounds but that has not been finalized yet, since the national team is currently training there,” Gordon said.
Last year, the Division 1 league struggled to get serious match attendance numbers. Gordon said all of that was down to marketing, which he said they had now been doing rigorously.
“We are doing our bit as WAFA. Our media team…has been working very hard. I think the teams should also do theirs by encouraging their communities to attend matches,” he said.
Despite bank’s support to the league, WAFA did not rule out accepting support from other companies to promote the league.
“We need partnership to advertise the WAFA-FBN League,” he said.
Part of the money is expected to go to all 24 teams as seed money. WAFA has not announced how much of the money will be going to clubs and how much will be invested on logistics to run the league.
When asked about it, Gordon said they would engage with the clubs to reach an agreement.
The start of the league may also cause a dilemma for some of the clubs that qualified since last season for playoffs to the Premier League.
Luawa Football Club is one of those teams. Their Secretary General, Sullay Costelo Kamara said that as much as they were ready to take part in this season’s league, their preparation had been difficult.
“It is not ethical for football, because you cannot be playing the league and preparing for playoff at the same time. It gives you a divided mind. Preparation has been very difficult for us,” Kamara said.
“But we are ready, we are more than ready for the playoffs and the league,” he added.
A playoff that was supposed to start in January couldn’t start because of ongoing wrangling between the parties who sued the Sierra Leone Football Association and the SLFA executive committee
“Playoffs are not within our mandate. Once we receive a call from the SLFA, we will do the needful,” Gordon said.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
