‘The Sierra Leone Premier League to be completed’ – SLFA told CAF

Freetown | 14th May 2020 | Vertex Media

The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has in a Press Statement on the 14th May 2020 inform the public that they have communicated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that the 2019/2020 Sierra Leone Premier League will be completed when the Government of Sierra Leone lift its ban on sports activities. According to SLFA, the decision is reached after CAF sent a communique to all members requesting their leagues’ statuses and planning.

A statement from SLFA press release reads:

“The Sierra Leone Football Association has decided to continue with the 2019/2020 Premier League Season to completion, as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic is declared eradicated and/or the ban on sports activities is lifted by the Government of Sierra Leone.”

“The decision has been communicated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in response to a communique CAF had sent, requesting for reports from all Member Associations on the Planning of National Competitions for the 2019- 2020 Season.”

“The Sierra Leone Premier League was halted before the end of its first round, in compliance with Government’s ban on all sporting activities as the result of the Coronavirus epidemic. There are seven (7) more matches to end the first round and Ninety One (91) matches to be played in the second round of the league.”

End of statement – SLFA

However, the release did not give a specific date for the resumption of the league. Should the late not completed before June 30th, Sierra Leone’s participation in the next season’s CAF Championships League is doubtful, since no absolute winners have been declared and submitted to CAF yet. As per Article IV (ENGAGEMENTS) of the CAF CHAMPIONSHIPS LEAGUE REGULATIONS, member Associations are guided on how to engage clubs in the Champions league as follows:

Section 6.
“If for any reason, the national league of a federation did not take place, the federation in question has the right to submit the participation request of the same club(s) engaged having played the national league from the previous season.”

Section 9.
“Any Association wishing to participate in the competition shall address to the General Secretary of the Confederation, an application accompanied by the admission fee of $300 (Three Hundred US dollars) to be paid in favour of CAF.”

Section 10.
“The application must reach CAF though the Competition Management System (CMS) not later than the 30th of June of the year of the start of the Competition.”

Sierra Leone Premier League current standings

Notwithstanding the uncertainty of the COVID-19 to be declared over anytime soon, it’s also unclear on the side of CAF on whether the next league season will hold amidst the threats of the virus.

Ibrahim Kamara, Head of Media and Marketing – SLFA

The Head of Media and Marketing of SLFA, Ibrahim Kamara told Vertex Media that they “hopeful that the ban on sports activities will be lifted soon.” Noting that SLFA and CAF are yet to get the greenlight to hold the next competitions due to the epidemic. Implicitly, if there is any delay to return to normalcy, member Associations may not be deterred from participating regardless of the June 30th deadline.

Ibrahim also confirmed that the decision was unanimously taken by the FA and the Premier League Board.