Sierra Leone government has reinstated the controversially sacked Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) executive board in a desperate bid to avoid FIFA sanction for governmental interference.
The decision came in a meeting on Wednesday convened by the Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma to meet FIFA’s reinstatement deadline of December 16.
Without the last-ditch decision to upturn the ban, Sierra Leone would have been suspended from all international football activity.
The situation arose after National Sports Council (NSC) announced the dissolution of the SLFA executive committee last week.
The NSC said at the time it had acted after the SLFA, led by Isha Johansen, dissolved a seven-man committee set up to identify delegates for the association’s next congress.
But FIFA, which demands that all football associations be independent, acted swiftly and insisted on a halt to the NSC’s plans.
In Wednesday’s meeting, it was also agreed that the executive committee would reinstate the seven-man working committee.
“President Koroma has done his best for the football family to reconcile and that was why he invited all the parties to the meeting. I see this as a win-win situation, Sports minister Paul Kamara announced after the meeting.
By Olisemeka Obeche