Isha Johansen Is New SLFA President

Isha Johansen (48), has been elected opposed as the new Sierra Leone Football Association President. She was the only one of the original four candidates who was not disqualified from contesting for the post.

The other three candidates who were disqualified were, the former striker of AS Monaco and Inter Milan, Mohamed Kallon, Rodney Michael and Foday Turay. Kallon was disqualified because he did not meet up with the regulation which stipulated that a candidate must be living in the country for the past five years of an election.

President Isha Johansen

The other two, Rodney Michael and Foday Turay, contravened article 25 of FIFA code of ethics which entails betting, gambling, lottery etc.

The men protested their disqualifications and even some football clubs boycotted the local league in protest as well. This caused the league to be suspended up till now.

After the poll today which declared Isha Johansen the winner, the happy lady said, that she was extending hand of friend during the holy month of ramadan to the three men. She said, that she would like to work with them to move forward as she did not have all the ideas.

"I want to use this holy month of ramadan and this opportunity to extend my hand of peace to Rodney Michael, Mohamed Kallon and Foday Turay.
I am the winner but I don't consider them as losers," she said.

"We can work together because I don't have all the ideas - I appeal for the anger to stop."

The newly elected president said that within the coming three months they will be holding an extra ordinary conference to map ourt the blue print for moving forward.

"In the next three months we 'll be holding an extra ordinary conference to map out the way forward, we 'll have a blue print," she said.

When the three men were disqualified, there was some sort of chaos as some clubs
refused to continue in the league. Then the disqualified candidates asked the President of Sierra Leone, Mr Ernest Koromah to mediate but the two FIFA officials Primo Corvaro and Prosper Abega, that came to monitor the election told the president that the decision disqualifying the men was upheld by FIFA.

Before today's election there was an imtrime council after FIFA dissolved the SLFA executive committee when the president Nahim Khadi became ill and his vice Alie Kargbo resigned.

Isha Johansen is the second woman to be elected the President of an FA. The first woman elected was Lydia Nsekera of Burundi. She also made history by becoming the first woman to be elected into the FIFA executive committee.