Interim body could run Sierra Leone FA

Primo Corvaro

The latest outbreak of infighting in the Sierra Leone Football Association could force Fifa to set up an an interim body to oversee the sport.

Fifa representative Primo Corvaro, who spent the weekend in Freetown assessing the SLFA crisis, told BBC Sport that an intermin structure may represent the best way forward for the troubled organisation.

The SLFA crisis deepened last week when Sports Minister Kamara accused the SLFA board of incompetence and dissolved it.

But after it emerged that Fifa was monitoring the situation, and could potentially place a worldwide ban on the Sierra Leone national team and all clubs from the country, President Ernest Bai Koroma ordered the SLFA board to be reinstated.

Fifa then put elections scheduled for the weekend on hold and dispatched Corvaro to the West African country to talk to the main stakeholders.

According to Corvaro, such is the disarray within the SLFA that the world body does not have many viable options to choose from.

"Most times in similar situations Fifa has opted for a Normalisation Committee.

"There is the situation that people who are now sitting in the Appeals Committee don't have legitimacy because they were not properly endorsed by the Congress and they have taken certain decisions in the electoral process.

"This is why setting up a Normalisation Committee could be a possibility but I'm not the one who will make that decision," said Corvaro, who will prepare a report on his findings and report back to the authorities in Zurich.

"My role is to present facts to the Fifa Member Association Committee who will debate the issues on 24 September and bring the case to the executive committee who will take the final decision."

However, most members of the SLFA board are vehemently opposed to the establishment of a Normalisation Committee.

They say a Normalisation Committee endorses the Sports Minister's stance.

After a stormy meeting with Corvaro, they signed a six-point resolution which has since been sent to Fifa headquarters.

Corvaro said Fifa will never endorse the minister's decision, hence the world body's decision not to accept his decision to dissolve the SLFA.