By: Hassan Osman Kargbo
The Chairman of the Sierra Leone Premier League Board Victor Lewis has informed press men in Freetown that football is the leading sport in Sierra Leone.
He made this statement on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Tower Hill Freetown.
According to Lewis, nobody can dispute the fact that there are other prominent sporting disciplines in the country, but football is the leading sport that could captivate the minds of many citizens in the country.
He continued that during the time Sierra Leone qualify for the Africa Cup of Nation; citizens were all over the place jubilation for the team, adding that during the tournament in Cameroon the country would be short down whenever Leone Stars had a match which shows how football had become popular among other sports in Sierra Leone.
He admitted that the Sierra Leone Premier League Board is spending close to 60,00NLe every week just to run the league and he noted that the money is going purely to referrers, match commissioners, etc. and all the effort that the Board is doing is to bring more glories into the Sierra Leone football. He added that the chairmen from various Premier League Clubs are the biggest investors because they are making a lot of sacrifices in the country to help their teams to succeed. He noted that Chairmen are spending something like 30 million old Leones for just a match and the money the Board is giving each Premier team couldn’t be enough to run even the first leg of the Sierra Leone Premier League.
‘As a chairman man of the League I will tell you guys that we are spending close to 60 million old Leones every to run the League which show that to run Football is not an easy work. Even though we had received sponsors from companies but the Board still facing some challenges,’ he said.
He furthered that Football is an expensive sport in the world and the government needs to put more empathize in it because it a sport that had created thousands if not millions job opportunities for the people of the country. He noted that to show how the sport had improved in the country, there are lot of artificial turfs constructions that are on-going to bring more energy into the game.
Lewis empathized that there is hope for the country’s football and people need to come and give the sport a facelift. ‘There is hope for the Sierra Leone football because we are seeing a lot of improvement in Sierra Leone Football,’ he said.
He reiterated that no matter what Football is at the centre stage in the country with all respect to the other sporting activities in Sierra Leone. He called on the government to continued supporting football and other sports activities in the country.
