By Alpha Abu
Former Leone Stars captain Mohamed Kallon and seven other men have lost their appeal against the rejection of their nominations by the Secretariat of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA).
The latest action by the FA’s Electoral Appeals Committee has effectively removed all possibilities for the men to vie for positions in the SLFA elective Congress that is scheduled to take place in Makeni on the 28 February 2021. Another notable figure Kasho Holland Cole of the Western Area Rural District Football Association was also affected by the action which was contained in a statement from the Committee dated Friday 29 January 2021.
In what would come as a surprise to many, one of the oldest football clubs in the country, Mighty Blackpool was also accused of bringing the game into disrepute and got a fine of 1 million Leones with the Committee also saying the club is not a valid member of the national football ruling body as at the close of the nomination process on the 8 January this year. A similar fine was imposed on the Western Area Urban Football Association for reportedly ‘’bringing the nomination process into disrepute”.
Meanwhile, Kallon who was hoping to contest for the FA Presidency at the elective Congress has issued a statement describing the decision by the committee as “erroneous and prejudicial’’, claiming that the grounds on which the earlier Electoral Committee disqualified him were not correct. He disputed the refusal of the electoral body to accept his nomination by the Football Veterans and the Western Area Urban Football Association after the two groups were accused of breaching various Statutes of SLFA.
The Western Area Urban District Association had initially described the rejection of Kallon’s nomination and those of other individuals belonging to their association as “a disgraceful effort to manipulate the electoral process”. Members also expressed concerns over the FA secretariat staff claim that the “the electoral Committee organised an election online and voted 3 members against 2 to reject the nominations’’.
“This decision to reject so many nominees on such flimsy grounds would be resisted out rightly and the membership will stand against such a dangerous attempt to manipulate the process, similar to what was done in 2013, in favour of the incumbent Isha Johansen”, the statement continued.
The Western Area Urban District Association had argued that for a fully paid up body that had presented all documentations only to see its members rejected because of not having submitted minutes of the Association’s last meeting, was uncalled for, and even made reference to perceived double standards by SLFA in accepting the nomination of “one particular candidate at 7pm on the 8th January 2021 despite the nomination process having been closed at 5 pm on the same day’’.
The association had alleged that such an action was ‘’evidence of preferential treatment for some who are associated with the incumbent Isha Johansen”.
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