March 6, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
As the race for this month’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidency heats on, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) President, Isha Johansen, remains undecided on who to support in the March 16 polls.
With barely 11 days to go for the decider, Madagascar’s football boss, Ahmad Ahmad, will be challenging the longest-serving CAF president, Issa Hayatou, for the continent football hot-seat and already several nations have reportedly showed their support for one of the two candidates.
Last week, Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper reported that SLFA boss has joined the likes of Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Gambia to openly support the 57-year-old Ahmad Ahmad.
However, the Football Association Director of Competition, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, dismissed the said report as baseless and misleading, noting that the SLFA president was yet to make an official statement on the said elections.
Just few days after Sesay’s statement, Johansen was unimpressed and according to reports from Inside World Football.com, she ordered an immediate enquiry into the media reports in which her Director of Competition said she would not be voting for the Madagascan Hayatou’s challanger.
“Johansen is understood to be incensed that Sesay made such a pronouncement on behalf of the SLFA without due consultation,” the online media reported.
“I never granted an interview to anyone as to what direction we are taking in any of the elections,” the SLFA boss told Inside World Football and refused to confirm who she will be voting for.
She further stated: “In fact, right at this moment, I am focused on my own candidacy for the female slot on the CAF Executive Committee and this involves me trying to further put Sierra Leone on a high pedestal in the governance of football in Africa and my protection and desire to raise the profile of the impact of women in football.”
Johansen is not the first to deny claims of supporting a particular candidate, the South Africa sports minister, Mbalule Fikile, in February,denied claims by Issa Hayatou that he has been endorsed for re-election by the South African President Jacob Zuma.