LFA
President Seeks Her Own Term
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
In 2001, Counsellor Sombo Izetta Wesley grabbed her second term as
Vice President for Administration of the Liberia Football Association
(LFA) during the Congress held in Kakata, Margibi County at the Booker
Washington Institute (BWI) campus.
Two years subsequently, the then LFA President Edwin M. Snowe, Jr.
stepped aside and Cllr. Wesley had to take the mantle of authority to
complete the tenure of her boss. Having done so, Cllr. Wesley is now
with the argument that come the LFA elections she should be given the
opportunity of serving her own term, as was the case of her
predecessors.
In order to execute this plan, the LFA President, currently in Egypt
to witness the official opening ceremonies of the 2006 African Nations
Cup finals in Egypt, has reportedly put together a tough and crack
team that could battle the opposing team, led by her immediate deputy,
Siaka A. Sheriff. The Wesley team, soon to be unveiled upon her retrun,
comprises people that seemingly know Liberian soccer too well to make
the LFA boss to take the game to another level.
Among those said to be on Cllr. Wesley’s team of trust includes one
member of the present LFA Executive Committee. The expected Vice
President for Operations may go to Beauford O. Weeks. He will face
former St. Antony President Adolph Lawrence.
With the current LFA Secretary-General Yanqueh Borsay slated to be
heading out of the football house for another job at the Capitol
Building, Cllr. Wesley seems to have a new chief scribe in mind if one
is not already waiting for appointment.
No Liberian woman has made such a significant impact in Liberian
football as compared to Cllr. Wesley who has gone through the ranks
and files of the game. For this reason, she is known as the mother of
Liberian football. As President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is known in
politics, Cllr. Wesley is often called Iron Lady or the Old Ma.
Being a strong believer of continuity, the LFA boss feels that the
next tenure would be the right moment for her to prove herself enough
to carry Liberian football somewhere as the prevailing situations at
the time she was completing the regime of Mr. Snowe did not set the
pace for anyone to pass judgment on her.
With a new government seated now, it is highly anticipated that
several other areas that were not living to expectation would now be
functional again. The LFA being no exception, Cllr. Wesley would
therefore exploit the political change that is expected to take place
by reviving Liberian soccer. Her administration currently boasts of a
well-furnished place that the LFA can call an office of its own at the
Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS). She grabbed sponsorship deal from
South Africa, which clubs and players would benefit from.
With the progress she has made in the span of two years, supporters of
Cllr. Wesley, spoken to, are demanding that the madam stay on, as
there could be more to be done by her.
While the LFA boss is seeking another term, the big explanation being
demanded in the football arena has to do with the decision by her Vice
President for Administration and Operations respectively, Siaka
Sheriff and Pennoh W. Bestman to form a separate faction to unseat
her.
With their boss lady going the other way, Sheriff and Bestman are
heading another direction due to unexplained reasons. But some soccer
connoisseurs see their action as a fulfillment of an alleged
conspiracy they have formed some times ago so as to get her out of the
LFA.
Pennoh may be blunt about his ambitions, but Siaka, even up to now,
has continued to remain quiet about his intention of becoming LFA
President. When he went to declare his intention at the residence of
Mr. Bestman in Paynesville recently, the occasion was not opened to
the media. At the end of the day, stories that were written emerged
from “hear say or they say.” Since then, he has been quietly
campaigning.
“If Mr. Sheriff is serious about being LFA President, then let him
make a public declaration,” was the statement made by one Siafa
Kollie, a strong follower of Liberian football.
Another fan, David Sampson pointed out that Mr. Sheriff is “not man
enough” to challenge Cllr. Wesley who he said has a strong support
base and is well grounded. Whether Mr. Sheriff fears the reigning LFA
boss such that he has not openly run his campaign remains a major
argument among potential voters.
No one really knows why Sheriff is wanting to unseat his boss but
there is a school of thought that Mr. Sheriff, currently the
Comptroller of the Liberian Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC) would
not be reappointed by the new government of Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
amidst allegations of corrupt practices exhibited by his principal
Edwin Snowe, thus he may use the LFA as his new source of income.
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