Sierra Leone’s sports minister, Ahmed Khanou, has denied interfering in the Sierra Leone Football Association’s (SLFA) peace process.
It follows a letter from Fifa’s secretary general Fatma Samoura dated 30 January, warning him not to interfere and to allow the SLFA to “manage its affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties.”
Khanou is a member of a Fifa task force set up to resolve internal problems within the SLFA.
“I’m disappointed at Fifa’s Fatma Samoura because I’ve not interfered with the peace process,” Khanou told BBC Sport.
“I received a letter from the SLFA executive committee (the unrecognised faction led by Brima Mazola Kamara) on 10 January, saying they wanted to convene a congress to adopt the Fifa code of ethics and elect members to the electoral board to conduct elections.
“These are in line with the Fifa road map. So, as a member of the task force, I decided to call another member of the task force – Veron Mosengo-Omba (Fifa’s director of member associations) – to inform him about the letter I received.
“He promised to get back to me, only for me to then receive a letter from the Fifa secretary general urging me not to interfere,” explained Khanou.
Sierra Leone football has been dogged by internal wrangles on issues ranging from integrity checks on current and potential SLFA executive members, delayed FA elections and the investigation of match-fixing allegations.
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