What Next for Leone Stars, Ministry of Sports And SLFA?

Concord Times (Freetown)

Rodney Edmond Michael

9 June 2011

opinion

Freetown — The much celebrated Leone Stars victory over the Mena Stars of Niger is now history, and the attention of all is drawn to the months ahead when the heroes of June 4th, our darling Leone Stars, will be expected to perform the most difficult task ever demanded from any of our National Football Teams, in fact of any Sporting discipline, which will be to beat the Pharaohs of Egypt and Bafana Bafana of South Africa in the first weekend of September and the second weekend of October 2011, to earn qualification for African Nations Cup 2012 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for the first time since 1996. Having taken the complex qualification calculations of CAF, caused by the withdrawal of Mauritania, into consideration our only possible route to qualification is winning both matches.

The honeymoon is coming to an end and soon the Nation will want to know the planning phase for Leone Stars versus Egypt, even though four months away, it will need to be properly planned to ensure the financial difficulties faced by The Ministry of Sports, the poor quality ticket sold at the Niger match, and the administrative difficulties experienced in the organization of the said match do not occur again; but also to ensure the public issues raised by the FA and The Ministry do not rock or interfere with the preparations, and that this time the technical team is sorted out well in advance to avoid delayed planning.

It is therefore important to proffer some salient recommendations now, so if taken into consideration, the planning will be better than the last and all previous internationals, but also to ensure we do all we can as a Nation to ease the difficulties to be faced by our gallant boys and their Coaches in preparation for their remaining two encounters.

It may surprise some, but the first step I would recommend is for the Minister to convey a meeting with the Committees he had set up, namely the Finance and Management Committee, The Budget Committee and the Coordinating Committee to establish the necessity of their existence, and if necessary to determine the terms of references and their responsibilities. The Committees, with the exception of the Coordinating Committee, were rather insignificant in the arrangement, with the Ministry taking full control of budgeting, financing and managing the affairs with some help from the coordinating committee.

In my honest opinion, the manner with which the Ministry handled the Niger match is evidence that they would prefer to continue in full control of all financial and managerial affairs of the team, and so the existence of the Finance and Management Committee is no longer necessary, and would recommend their resignation with immediate effect. The same applies with the budget committee of which I am a member, however the Coordinating Committee did play some role, and were involved throughout so maybe they can consider themselves needed, and maybe should continue.

The second step I would recommend is for the Ministry and the FA to once and for all discuss and reach a solution of their individual roles. It is now evident for all to see the Ministry is determined to play an active part in the qualifiers, and if so S.L.F.A. being the recognized Football Association in Sierra Leone, should not and must not appear disregarded or disrespected. They must be an active partner, if not in the financial arrangements, at least in the administrative and technical aspect of the International matches; and for the sceptics out there, this is an achievable partnership if all parties are ready to bend a little and understand the importance of one another.

The FA and The Ministry must be seen as united, and their differences shelved aside in the interest of the Nation or else our slim chances of qualifying will be affected.

The third step, and one I have struggled to understand over the years, is the difficulty to put in place proper sponsorship packages for the National teams. I believe square pegs in round holes, ignorant of what it takes to entice sponsors and the greed and lack of appreciation of previous sponsors visible to potential sponsors, not to mention the lack of integrity and credibility currently plaguing sports in general and football in particular, has been the predominant obstacle to adequate sponsorship for Leone Stars.

It is therefore necessary that the kit sponsorship on the table at the moment from Hummel through Mediatel, is given adequate consideration and proper scrutiny by The F.A. to ensure it is sorted out once and for all, whether confirming or rejecting it. If it is the latter, then emergency steps must be taken to acquire another Kit Sponsorship with immediate effect because gone are the days when our boys are dressed in inferior attires, unsuitable even for a lower division club team. Our boys deserve and our fans will demand the best equipment/attires for the National Team(s).

In addition to kit sponsors many are wondering why we have failed to acquire financial sponsors for the National Teams. Is it the lack of interest or just the lack of confidence from corporate houses? Or is just the fact we are unable to present a legitimate case for financial support? Or is it the level of distrust created by lack of transparency within football? Whatever the views, it is unfair to expect our Government to be sole sponsors of the National Team which implies we must seek alternate/innovative ways of raising revenue, and transparently managing the said revenue, so whatever Government provides will be justifiable when compared to other countries around Africa and beyond.

The National Team(s) must be in hot pursuit from corporate houses, and the victory against Niger must have provide the impetus to entice the potential sponsors, but action and proper planning must be done if we desire these sponsors to come on board.

Penultimate, the relationship between the F.A. and the Ministry on the one hand, and that of the Media, in particular SWASAL, must be very cordial and a strong partnership built. The media could help create a wonderful public opinion which could excite sponsors and fans into believing Leone Stars is worth supporting in all forms. The opportunity of having such passionate journalists who would do everything humanly possible to support their National team must be taken advantage of and for those that know, sponsors look at a series of things, but the most important is publicity.

Finally, the technical team and the players must continue to enjoy the support they have received in both legs against Niger, and all must be done for them to feel they are appreciated. In this light maybe a bonus scheme, and I do not mean the $ 1000 per player per match for victory, but one that would mean the world to them should be designed or initiated. It would be appropriate for Government to offer for each member of any of the squad for any/all of this Nations Cup qualifiers, two town lots of land in a very expensive residential area in the country (preferably Freetown) if they perform the miracle and qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup. The same should be applicable to all members of the technical team. It would serve as a unique incentive which may probably be the last opportunity for most of the current National squad to receive a life time reward for serving their country, and one opportunity none of them would want to miss, nor would members of the technical team.

There are many other areas that will need proper planning but if the above recommendations are taking into consideration and work commences on them, the public will know there is a plan in place and whatever the outcome of qualification, the best would have been done and that is all the passionate fans could ask for. The other issues will then be easy to handle.

Let us for one moment realise and agree that qualification may be extremely difficult but not impossible, and achievable if we plan properly.

COME ON LEONE STARS!

AllAfrica – All the Time