The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal challenging the outcome of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) presidential election held on 2 August 2025, confirming the victory of Babadi Kamara and the decision of the SLFA Electoral Appeals Committee.
In an arbitral award dated 2 November 2026 in the case CAS 2025/A/11738 Aminata Bangura, Slifa FC & Musa Mahmood v. Sierra Leone Football Association, the three-member Panel ruled that the appeal filed by Ms Bangura, Slifa FC and Mr Musa Mahmood on 8 September 2025 is dismissed. The decision of the SLFA Electoral Appeals Committee of 18 August 2025 is confirmed in full.
Babadi Kamara won the elective congress with 43 votes to Bangura’s 11, after the third candidate, Umaru Bah, withdrew. The clear margin proved decisive in the CAS ruling.
Background to the Dispute
The election took place amid a series of controversies. The SLFA Ethics Board had earlier barred both Bangura and then-President Thomas Daddy Brima from contesting, imposing one-year bans from football-related activities. CAS granted Bangura provisional measures on 31 July 2025, allowing her to stand. Brima remained barred, leaving the association without a sitting president at the congress. The First Vice-President was also absent, and the Second Vice-President, Mr Tarawally, chaired the proceedings after a majority of delegates endorsed the arrangement.
The Appellants raised multiple grounds, including the improper convening of the congress, late release and alleged manipulation of the delegate list, the forcible removal and arrest of Slifa FC’s delegate Benjamin Gordon, the use of serial-numbered ballots (raising secrecy concerns), and questions over the appointment and integrity checks of the Electoral Committee, Ethics Board and Electoral Appeals Committee.
Panel’s Findings
The CAS Panel, chaired by Mr Lars Hilliger with arbitrators Mr David Casserly SC and Mr Kwadjo Adjepong OBE, examined the evidence, including witness testimony and video footage. It acknowledged several procedural shortcomings:
• The first three ballots were issued with serial numbers matching the voter list, meaning those votes could not properly be considered secret under Article 25 of the SLFA Constitution. Subsequent ballots were mixed after an objection was raised.
• The treatment of Mr Gordon by police and security personnel was described as excessive, heavy-handed and violent. The Panel noted that the SLFA owed a duty of care to delegates and condemned the manner of his removal and arrest, which prevented him from voting. It stopped short of finding systematic intimidation.
However, the Panel concluded that these and other issues, individually or taken together, did not materially affect the integrity or the outcome of the presidential election, given the decisive 43-11 margin and the failure of the appellants to discharge their burden of proof on several points. It agreed with the lower body that safeguards should be strengthened for future elections (including earlier publication of delegate lists, clearer rules on chairing in the absence of the president, and better protocols with police).
The Panel also confirmed that the Executive Committee properly convened the congress and that the Standing Orders of Congress allowed the longest-serving available vice-president to chair in the circumstances.
Costs
The appellants were ordered to bear the costs of the arbitration jointly and severally. They must also pay CHF 6,000 towards the SLFA’s legal fees and expenses.
The ruling closes the main legal challenge to the August 2025 elective congress at the international level. A separate CAS case concerning Bangura’s earlier Ethics Board disqualification (CAS 2025/A/11613) was previously dismissed in early October 2026.
The decision provides legal finality to Kamara’s presidency more than a year after the congress, while highlighting areas where the SLFA’s electoral processes can be improved.
