The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA)on Sunday, May 14, 2023, successfully concluded a ten-day training course for over 60 Assessors, Instructors, and elite referees at the Bo City, southern Sierra Leone.
The purpose of the training is to help capacity football administrators in helping the game to grow, especially in the southern region.
In his statement, the Vice President – 1, SLFA, Harold Nat-Johnson thanked the FIFA facilitators Prof. Lim Kee Chong and Fitness Instructor Ephram Mark Mzengo for “taking their time and travel thousands of miles to impart valuable knowledge in our elite referees”. “This will invariably bring about the much-needed improvement in our country’s refereeing,” he said.
Nat-Johnson congratulated the participants for successfully going through the FIFA knowledge sharing exercise, admonishing them to at all times ensure the execution of their jobs as referees professionally.
“As a federation, we will continue to recommend hardworking and quality referees for enlistment into FIFA, CAF and WAFU tournaments,” he added.
Lead facilitator Prof. Lim Kee Chong, a former FIFA World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations referee, expressed great delight over the performance of the participants. “With this crop of referees, there is great prospect for the development of refereeing in Sierra Leone,” Prof. Lim said. He added by requesting the SLFA to pay more attention to referees department, noting that, “referees in every country must be seen as international ambassadors”.
The ceremony officially ended with a brief statement of closure by the Vice President- 1 following the distribution of certificates to all participants.