By Sigismond Nicol
Director of Sports, Dr. Kenneth Brima, has said in an interview that they presently have limited funds for the Sports Ministry, after the Nations Cup where they spent 19 billion Leones, which has made them unable to give assistance to other sporting disciplines.
He said going forward when submitting their budget for 2023 they will like the media to be present as they will differentiate the budget lines for the various sporting disciplines, including showing first how the 2022 budget was expended.
He also said the NSA is trying to develop Sporting Association in the County that will be working with different sporting disciplines notwithstanding the budgets will be used but not as usual because there are criteria they will have to go through before getting their allocation, vis a vis: Associations need to hold elections in order to be eligible; All Association must have an office; all Associations must renew their membership with the NSA; all registered Sports associations must be organizing annual competitions before international competitions; and the NSA must be present to witness the competition to ensure its credibility.
“We want to change the belief the fans are having that we are paying attention only to football. The NSA has been supporting other Associations also, such as in 2019 The Roll ball world cup in India, The West African union Cricket championship, Sierra Leone Athletics Association, including competitions for West Africa, The Commonwealth Games, Olympic games, Basketball friendly in Guinea, etc. These are all beneficiaries from funds allocated to the National Sports Authority,” he said.
