By: Alhaji A. Barrie
The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) Transition Committee, formed after the Elective Congress of August 2nd, 2025, has released a damning report that reveals deep-rooted dysfunction across the organization’s governance and financial systems. Tasked with assessing SLFA’s operational health and ensuring a structured handover, the committee’s findings have sent shockwaves through the football community.
Tasked with assessing SLFA’s operational health and ensuring a structured handover, the Transition Committee conducted a comprehensive review of governance, finance, competitions, staffing, and coordination with oversight bodies. What they found was troubling: a pattern of neglect, opacity, and mismanagement that has left the Association vulnerable and adrift.
The report highlights chronic delays in audits, a lack of monthly management accounts, and a General Ledger that fails to reflect audited adjustments. These lapses have severely undermined financial transparency and accountability.
SLFA’s asset registers are poorly maintained, leaving significant gaps in documentation and verification.
Procurement processes suffer from weak oversight, raising concerns about mismanagement and the absence of financial safeguards.
Among the most alarming revelations is the unaccounted NLe 720 million government grant from 2019, withdrawn from the FA Cup special account without the required “no objection” letter. The funds, earmarked for refund, remain missing.
Additionally, a 2023–2024 contract with Tubanda Company Limited for four coaster buses—fully paid at USD $100,000—resulted in only two buses being delivered. The remaining $50,000 worth of assets remains unaccounted for.
The Transition Committee’s findings expose deep-rooted governance weaknesses and financial irregularities that demand urgent reform.
Stakeholders, including government bodies, sponsors, and the football community, are now calling for a full-scale overhaul of SLFA’s systems and leadership practices.
“This report is not just a wake-up call—it’s a reckoning,” said one committee member. “Football in Sierra Leone deserves better, and this is our moment to rebuild with integrity.”
