Sports Council to name interim body
July 21, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
The National Sports Council (NSC) will today name a 5-man interim body that will be charged with responsibility to take the Sierra Leone Athletics Association to an elective congress in October this year.
Last Tuesday, the NSC announced they have dissolved the Abdul Karim Sesay led SLAA administration after it failed to ratify the 15 December, 2015 elective congress, which it described as ‘clandestine and illegal’.
Confirming the NSC decision, Director of Sports Ibrahim Bangura said: “It was no secret that the elections conducted was illegal and we all know that the congress at the Siaka Steven [National] Stadium ended abruptly.
“Our decision to dissolve the executive was done in accordance with the Sports Council Act and what we are doing is to restore sanity within the SLAA body.”
Meanwhile, the Abdul Karim Sesay led SLAA executive are still insisting on not going to any other congress as the embattle president still believes they have the legal mandate to run the association’s administration.
However, the NSC decision could spark disagreement with the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) who officially confirmed Abdul Karim Sesay’s re-election last year.
In an exclusive interview with Concord Sports last December, deputy director in the IAAF communication department, Chris Turner, said they were satisfied with the conduct of the election and accepted the results.
Turner said: “The IAAF was informed on 17 December 2015 that the SLAA finally held their elective congress on 15 December, 2015. Mr. Abdul Karim Sesay was re-elected President. They have yet to appoint a General Secretary. The IAAF is satisfied with the conduct of the election and recognises the results.”
The director of sports on the other hand admitted that they would communicate their decision to the IAAF and give full update on the situation.
He said: “This is an internal matter and we all know what happened; we are going to inform IAAF with full rundown on what occurred on December 15.”