Football in Sierra Leone
Football in Sierra Leone | |
---|---|
Governing body | Sierra Leone Football Association |
National team(s) | men's national team |
National competitions | |
Sierra Leone FA Cup | |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
African Cup of Nations (national team) |
Football is the most popular sport in Sierra Leone.[1] The governing body is the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA).[2] The SLFA was formed in 1960 and has been affiliated with FIFA beginning the same year.[3] There has been and continues to be trouble within the sport in Sierra Leone. In the past, however, the country has achieved a modicum of success in international competition.
National competition
The
The Sierra Leone FA Cup is the national knockout competition.[7] It was established in 1967.[7]
Sierra Leonean teams, as well as those of other African countries, have to compete with European football, especially the English Premier League, for the hearts of fans.[8] The country is home to one of the largest Manchester City supporters club outside of the UK.[9] In 2009 and 2010, fans and supporters of Manchester City raised funds to send a second-hand bus to Sierra Leone to provide transport for away games.[10]
International competition
The
The top two Premier League teams represent the country in the
The Sierra Leone U-17 football team, nicknamed the Sierra Stars, finished as runner-up at the
The women's national team is known as the Sierra Queens.[7]
Troubled decade: 2010s
The 2010s proved to be a decade of turmoil for the sport in Sierra Leone. The outbreak of Ebola in western Africa resulted in the Confederation of African Football instituting a ban preventing Sierra Leone, as well as Liberia and Guinea, from playing home games within the country beginning in August 2014; only after Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free was the ban lifted in December 2015.[16] (Liberia's ban ended in September 2015,[16] and Guinea's in January 2016.[17]) From 2013 to the middle of 2016, there were two FA Cups and one league season.[18]
In June 2014, allegations were made that two football officials and a national under-20 coach fixed two matches, in 2008 and 2009.[19]
There is also ongoing dissatisfaction harboured by fans and teams against the SLFA, headed by Isha Johansen.[18] On 9 December 2015, the National Sport Council decided to dissolve the SLFA's executive committee.[20] The SLFA, however, refused to accept the decision.[20] Attendance is low at SLFA-organised games, even one where entry was free.[18] Eleven of fourteen of the premier league teams formed a breakaway league that ended in early 2016; it also failed to attract large crowds.[18] Six premier league teams boycotted the 2016 FA Cup.[18]
On 7 September 2016, SLFA President Isha Johansen, Vice President Brima Kamara and Secretary General Christopher Kamara were jailed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for failing to provide reports regarding the SLFA's financial statements and the use of money.[21] The trio were released after posting bail.[22] FIFA defended the SLFA in a letter, stating, "FIFA has no reason to suspect there has been misuse of funds that FIFA has provided to the SLFA", having audited the SLFA's accounts earlier in the year.[23]
References
- ^ ISBN 9781598846669.
- ^ "About us". Sierra Leone Football Association.
- ^ "Member Association - Sierra Leone". fifa.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Sierra Leone National Premier League". Sierra Leone Football Association.
- ^ "East End Lions FC". Sierra Leone Football Association.
- ^ "FC Kallon". Sierra Leone Football Association.
- ^ a b c "Sierra Leonean FA Cup". Sierra Leone Football Association.
- ^ Mohamed Fajah Barrie (16 July 2009). "Sierra Leone fans flock back". BBC News.
- ^ "Manchester City Fans Furious as Sierra Leone Donations 'Hijacked by Corrupt Local Officials' [VIDEO] - International Business Times UK". Ibtimes.co.uk. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
- ^ "BBC - Sierra Leone City fan in 'thank you' trip to Manchester". BBC News. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
- ^ "Sierra Leone: Profile". FIFA. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016.
- ^ "Ivory Coast: Africa Cup of Nations champions qualify for 2017 tournament". BBC News. 3 September 2016.
- ^ "CAF Champions League 2007 Results". soccer24.com.
- ^ "African U-17 Championship 2003". RSSSF.
- ^ "FIFA U-17 World Championship Finland 2003: Groups". FIFA. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016.
- ^ a b "Ebola-free Sierra Leone cleared to host football". Al Jazeera. 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Ebola-free Guinea cleared to host World Cup qualifying matches". ESPN FC. Associated Press. 4 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Mohamed Fajah Barrie (19 July 2016). "Sierra Leone fans and players turn to non-league football". BBC News.
- ^ Mohamed Fajah Barrie (3 June 2014). "Sierra Leone officials deny match-fixing". BBC News.
- ^ a b Sahr Morris Jr. "Sierra Leone Football Crisis Deepens". Sierra Leone Concord Times.
- ^ Umaru Fofana (8 September 2016). "Sierra Leone Football Association officials arrested by anti-graft agency". Reuters.
- ^ "Top Sierra Leone FA officials spend night in jail in corruption investigation". Associated Press. 8 September 2016.
- ^ "Fifa backs Sierra Leone FA in use of funds". BBC News. 21 September 2016.