Post a comment
The Minister of Sports Ibrahim Nylenkeh has disclosed in an interview that it is neither the Government nor the Ministry of Sports that organize friendly matches for the Senior National teams (Leone Stars) but the responsibility of the Sierra Leone Football Association because they are charged with the responsibility to run the affairs of Football in the country.
Minister Nylenkeh said when it is time for Friendly matches for the National team the Football Association takes great responsibility for ensuring that Football is played in the corners of the Country, noting that the role of the Government to the National team 15 is to provide the necessary funding that is required for any support towards the national team, adding that this has been the normal procedures as Government when supporting the Leone Stars team.
He affirmed that the Go Government has supported the Senior National Team to play 12 friendly matches since when they came into power and they have invested in sports more than any other Government President Bio has given the highest encouragement to and support to the Senior National team as players match bonuses has been increased a figure that all the players have accepted and ready to deliver for the people of Sierra Leone.
Ibrahim Nyelenkeh said before the team departed for the friendly match in Duba, there was a meeting held at his office, where the Football Federation, the National Sports Authority, and the Team Manager of the National team were all present to how to go about the Friendly match, and in that, they agreed on what to do before departure and all present agreed to the decision taken and what not to do. He further added that the initial agreement was to play two friendly matches against the Desert Foxes of Algeria team A and Rwanda on the 13th and 18th of November 2022.
But to the greatest surprise when the team is about to depart for Dubai they found out that the Algeria team A match has been cancelled and that the Rwanda match has also been called off by the agent, but before doing that the Agent sent a letter to the General Secretary of the Football Federation, but there was no reply and that what led to the Leone Stars A Team to play against the Algeria B that defeated Leone Stars by three goals to nil.
He added that the miss information that is going around that it is the Ministry of Sports that Organized the said Friendly match is false and misleading to the highest degree because that is not the mandate of the Ministry of Sports to be organizing Friendly matches in the Country, as FIFA and CAF don’t deal with the Ministry of Sports in terms of Friendly matches but they deal with the Sierra Leone Football Association because they are charge with the responsibility to run Football in the Country.
