The Executive Director of the National Sports Authority, Dr Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai Esq, has revealed that the Government of Sierra Leone has approved 20 Million New Leones to finance Leone Stars’ FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Djibouti and Burkina Faso.
He made this disclosure during the SLFA organized press conference at the Home Suites Hotel at Aberdeen on Thursday, 30th May, 2024.”What the SLFA is doing is a prototype, and the other sports need to replicate it. Footabll is playing all around the country, and that is good because it engages the youths,” Dr. Abdulai noted, reiterating his mandate of value for money.
On taking a new course to ensure fiscal discipline, Dr. Abdulai said Government has catered for 44 individuals to make the Leone Stars trip.
“There are many challenges in the country at the moment. We can use sports to solve these problems, and that is the reason the Government is spending huge amount of money in sports, football in particular.
“As the new Executive Director of the National Sports Authority, the Djibouti and Burkina Faso matches are my first and second matches. I have spoken with the Coach informally, and we need to win these matches in order to put us in a better position for the World Cup qualification in 2026. We can not just be participants but competitors, ” he told the news conference.
Sierra Leone is in 4th place in Group D after playing two matches. Leone Stars hosts Djibouti on 5th June, 2024, in Morocco and plays away to Burkina Faso in Mali on 10th June 2024.
