By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Sierra Leone Premier League giants, Bo Rangers have said they will only represent the country based on merit and not on financial standing. In a statement released by the club on Monday, they said they will not represent the country in continental competitions if they are not formally declared champions.
The Premier League Board in consultation with all 14 clubs decided to cancel the rest of the season last week after the league was halted in March amidst fears of COVID-19.
In the same meeting last Wednesday, three teams were shortlisted to discuss and agree on which two will represent the country in CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup.
PLB Chairman, Alieu Vandy Korma said the teams came forward based on their standing on the table and their financial capability to represent the country, considering that the FA and government might not be able to finance them to play on the continent this season.
“So we had three clubs who came forward expressing interest to represent the country on the continent. So that was a good thing for us because the three clubs were all in the bracket that we had put; that if we are going to have teams represent us they must come from the bracket that we had set, which is performance, infrastructure and finance as well,” Koroma told journalists shortly after the meeting on Wednesday, 15th July.
Representatives of all three teams who were present at the meeting seemed to have accepted the idea of negotiating.
But Abdul N’jai, Secretary General of the club told Politico on Tuesday that following a meeting of the Board of Directors of the club, it was agreed that they should not be negotiating their position with anyone, considering the circumstances.
“We are not desperate to go to CAF, we will go to CAF based on merit, we will go to CAF based on us winning a champions league spot, and we will go to CAF based on the trophy that will be given to us. But you just don’t go to CAF because of representation. Based on what are you going to represent the country, when you have not been declared as champion,” Njai explained in a telephone interview.
Rangers also stated in the press release on Monday that, “We believe under the current circumstances, the league table and not the capacity should serve as the basis for the selection to represent the country at CAF. It is therefore the position of the club that unless Bo Rangers is declared league leaders and crowned Champions we will not opt for any CAF representative based on financial advantage.”
On Tuesday, Head of Media at the Sierra Leone Football Association, Ibrahim Kamara hinted that results from any negotiation might be futile. He said all they want is the status report on the league from the PLB.
“We did not tell them to negotiate. All what we want is the status report from the PLB and we will decide in consultation with our competitions department,” Kamara said.
The Executive Committee of the SLFA is supposed to meet today (Wednesday, 22nd July), but it is not clear whether discussions about the CAF champion’s league will form part of their discussions.
The other two clubs, Kamboi Eagles and East End Lions have not yet reacted to the decision of Rangers to pull out of the negotiations. Before the league was halted in March, Rangers were top of the league with 23 points from 13 games. Kamboi Eagles was second with 22 points having played 12 games. Lions were 5th with 20 points after 10 games.
Bo Rangers have never represented the country in continental competitions.
The deadline for the submission of teams for the competition is August 31st. Sierra Leone has not participated in CAF competitions for five years after the league went in to hiatus because of administrative squabbling at the SLFA.
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