A FIFA delegation is to visit Sierra Leone in the coming weeks to help the country’s football association (SLFA) to combat corruption and match-fixing. ‘A FIFA mission led by FIFA’s Director of Security Ralf Mutschke is set to visit Sierra Leone in the coming weeks to meet with the President of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA), Isha Johansen, as well as with key governmental officials’, reads a 26 March FIFA statement.

In December 2014, SLFA officials set up a teleconference after an Executive Committee meeting was cancelled on health concern grounds due to the Ebola virus. The officials voted to dissolve Johansen’s Executive Committee, setting up an interim body headed by Alhaji Unisa Alim Sesay, the owner of Premier League club Anti-Drugs Strikers, to run the SLFA until June 2015. Sesay has also been Chairman of rival Premier League club East End Lions.

It is understood that 40 out of 47 delegates and 12 of the 14 Premier League clubs supported the move to remove Johansen, who is Chair of Premier League club FC Johansen. The teleconference also voted to lift suspensions handed out to 15 players and officials in July 2014, after which FIFA launched an investigation. All the players and officials involved have protested their innocence.

FIFA said that it welcomed the SLFA’s attempts to suspend the players. “While it’s the responsibility of the SLFA and the Sierra Leonean authorities to tackle match manipulation matters at local level, FIFA is dedicated to providing support on this issue to the SLFA as we do with all of our other member associations”, said FIFA’s Director of Security, Ralf Mutschke. “We also continue to look at preventative measures as a sustainable solution to combat the global match manipulation problem. We welcome the efforts currently being undertaken by the SLFA. Match manipulation is a global problem that requires a coordinated response by all stakeholders involved in football.”

Johansen was elected as SLFA President in 2013, after three rival candidates were disqualified at the last minute, for allegedly breaching the SLFA Constitution. It was alleged in media reports that the disqualifications were politically motivated, as the government was keen to ensure Johansen’s appointment to the post. Article 17.1 of FIFA’s Statutes states: ‘Each Member shall manage its affairs independently and with no influence from third parties’. FIFA supported the appointment, despite a boycott by Premier League clubs over the disqualifications.

President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, recently chaired a meeting between the two rival factions in an attempt to broker a solution. While no solution was brokered, it is understood that both sides agreed that the Johansen-led Executive should use SLFA cash to continue to run the SLFA’s operations, including payment of workers.