Social/sports commentators following the general trend of sports in the country are of the view that nothing much is being done by the relevant authorities to see sports moving away from the dormant, retrogressive state it finds itself.

Fingers have been pointed at various problems and parties as being responsible for the poor state of sports in Sierra Leone. While some people say the sorry state of sports in Sierra Leone is due to the nonchalant attitude of the Ministry of Sports to put in place a robust machinery or systems that would see improvement in sports; others are of the view that the poor state of sports in the country is the fault of the managers and administrators of the various sporting disciplines.

Whichever way one looks at it, the undeniable fact is that the progress of sports in Sierra Leone is nothing worth writing home about. True, we have experienced a few surprises in the likes of George Wyndham who is a disabled table tennis player and a few others that have brought home medals and trophies, thus making Sierra Leone proud.

But football, which is the most popular sport in the country, is still lagging far behind for want of better administration and funding.

Whatever the problems that have been identified as hampering the growth of football in Sierra Leone, the relevant authorities would need to go back to the drawing board to see what went wrong and rectify the situation so that we would see improvement of football through organized competitions.

It is unfortunate that even though several interventions have been made by the former President of Sierra Leone, FIFA and other authorities to see that football is allowed to develop so that we spot talents and train players for our national team, the situation has unfortunately remained the same. This has to stop. Football is a game changer which can lift a country out of poverty into international limelight and prosperity.

It is unfortunate and foreboding that all the interventions and efforts to ensure that the stalemate between the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) executive and a splinter group has fell on deaf ears and instead of things getting better, things are actually getting worse.

However, it is the wish of every football loving fan that common sense would prevail at the end of the day otherwise; football could breakdown to mere triviality and finger-pointing as if the problems are insurmountable when in actual fact, problems are created by men to be resolved also by men!

Finally, another reason why sports is in such abysmal state is the fact that false representation is the order of the day when it comes to sending athletes to compete in competitions abroad. There have been cases when the real athlete (s) would not be the ones making the trip. Rather, the slots for genuine athletes are sold to the highest bidder (s) and the latter are issued documents, which would enable them travel abroad on the pretext of representing the country – Sierra Leone in competitions. But once they (athletes) do a couple of test runs, they disappear without trace only to surface seeking asylum after the rest of the team would have returned home. This too must stop and anyone caught in this traitorous act must face the music.

This is why the new Minister of Sports must not take easy the tantrums of people he would meet in this ministry. The new minister is expected to not do business as usual. He is expected to act sternly without fear or favor, and without taking sides. He is also expected to be the game changer and not settle for anything less than the overall development of all sporting disciplines in the country.

Good luck Mr. Minister of Sports.