…As 60 Days Ultimatum slips away
Liberia’s sports administrators have barely
seven more days left to complete the 60-day
ultimatum given them by the World Football
Governing Body (FIFA) to draft an improved
standard for the Liberian game.
The 60-day period was provided by FIFA to
enable Liberian sporting authorities who
attended the Zurich meeting some time in October
of this year, put in place and institute new
regulations for football governance in the
country.
The FIFA mandate clearly charged the
“political football officials” with the
responsibilities to review its administrative
and financial structures so as to bring them in
line with its (FIFA) standards. During the
Zurich meeting which was held between the period
of 19-22 October, FIFA also requested that the
so-called “football Politicians” amend the
current statutes and regulations of the Liberian
Football Association (LFA) National Leagues and
immediately bring them in line with the FIFA
standard statues, an action that every Liberian
long awaited.
The Governing Football Body further said that
a FIFA development staff would be sent to
Liberia periodically to assist the FA in
reviewing their administrative and financial
regulations, thus ensuring that they are in the
direct foot path of the body’s international and
widely accepted standards. With those challenges
on hand, the so-called “football politicians”
returned with the hope of collaborating and
working for the common good of the Liberian
game.
Unfortunately, there has been no information
as it relates to the progress of their gathering
but however there have been mounting concerns as
to whether the FIFA’s intervention will really
yield results with just seven-more-days left.
The sixty-days ultimatum, considerably, was
intended to ensure that Liberia have a climate
change in their soccer administration as well as
reduce the constant claims of corruption, as the
FA was by then being operated by a sub-standard
financial regulations.
Though it has been a difficult situation
getting both the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYS)
and the Liberia Football Association (LFA) to
agree on issues of such, the FIFA intervention
on the other hand compelled them and strictly
defined the role of the FA in special areas thus
urged them to agree on a way forward.
Prior to the Zurich meeting, there were
serious crisis at the Liberia Football
Association involving the FA authority and some
aggrieved club officials, which resulted to a
complete stand still and postponement of their
2008 Ordinary Congress which was also halted by
the Ministry of Youth Sports for fear of threats
that were issued by a club official.
As a result of the interest, FIFA immediately
dispatched a representative to Liberia who
successfully held meetings with parties involved
and there after reported findings to its
headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Due to the
constant complains, couple with the
representation findings, FIFA resolved to invite
the parties involved to find an amicable
solution that could help improve the standards
of the Liberia game.
With just seven more days left, will the FIFA
timely intervention really yield results that
every Liberian would love to see or will the
60-day ultimatum serve as 60-minutes of lecture.
Meanwhile, some sports enthusiasts have
wondered as to whether the parties involved have
been closely cooperating in crafting regulations
and standards that could give the Liberia’s game
a different look.
