By Alieu Bcokarie
The nomination of candidates for the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) ended on the 8th January 2021. Among them, five went for the presidency including the incumbent FA president Isha Johansen.
Among the 17, 12 went for 1st, 2nd Vice President and Excopositions. But among them all, the fans are more concerned about who will be the FA president.
The names of the five candidates who were nominated for the presidency are Rodney Michael, Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, IshaJo
The electoral committee is presently examining all the candidates onto the end of January when they will come out with the final list of candidates for the election.
Even before the release of the final list, the fans are now appealing to delegates to look critically into the candidate’s ability to run the game.
They went on that they don’t want a candidate that will come to enrich himself/herself with money meant to develop the game.
In this case, the fans want a president that will be transparent to his members and corrupt free.
That he or she should cater for funds apart from what comes from FIFA. Assessing the five candidates, the incumbent president has a premier league club and has experience in football administration.
Before becoming president, she (Isha) organized two youth tournaments in the country, inviting teams from other countries and traveled out with her club to tour Europe and America.
Main Challenger, Rodney Michael started his football administration career as the chairman of the Bo District FA and later became Deputy Chairman of the Southern Region FA.
He was appointed as premier league board chairman and he ran the league successfully onto the end. Rodney individually donates electronics changing boards to the four regional FAs in Sierra Leone.
He has also provided trophies for several mini leagues both in the city and the provinces. Apart from Football, Rodney owned a construction company where he employed several Sierra Leoneans.
He owns a division1 club and a football foundation where he helped players to get education and other facilities.
Rodney has vast experience in football administration, a quality which other presidential candidates have attested to. Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai is presently the chairman of Old Edwardians FC and he owns a division1 club.
He too was appointed premier league board chairman after long time without league in the country and he organized one of the best leagues ever in the country.
Saffa as a lawyer has vast knowledge with the constitution of the game and highly inclined with football management and administration.
Saffa owns a Newspaper, Printing Press, Poultry and other smaller business. Kofi Nyankor was the chairman of the Bo District Football FA and later became the chairman of the South Region FA.
He owns one of the best bakeries in the country. Kofi also have vast experience in the administration of the game.
Thomas Daddy Brima is a businessman and has been in football management for some time.
Delegates are to look at the few things mentioned about the candidates and vote wisely for the one that will develop the game.
