The Ministry of Finance has in a press release issued on Wednesday 4 September 2019, disclosed that Government approved the disbursement of over Le 6 billion (Le6,789,846,708) to facilitate the countries athletes’ representation at both the Qatar 2022 preliminary World Cup qualifying and the All African Games. The Ministry provided Le4.5 billion (Le4, 511,261,578) to the Ministry of Sports to facilitate the Sierra Leone National Football team, Leone Stars’ participation in the qualifying matches against the Republic of Liberia on the 4th and 8th September, 2019.
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However, Le1.58 billion (Lel,583,914,910) was paid to facilitate the away leg of the match in Monrovia, Liberia on September 4th and Le 645 million (Le 645, 895,000) was utilised as cost of airfares for players and officials to Liberia. On the other hand, Le2.28 billion (Le2, 281,451,668) has been set aside by government to facilitate the return leg in Freetown on September 8th 2019. During the country’s participation at the just concluded All African Games in Morocco, the Ministry of Sports disbursed the sum of Le2.2 billion (Le2,278,585,130) as a show of government’s commitment to support the development of sports by getting athletes to participate in international competitions. A total of 32 athletes from 8 sporting disciplines represented the country in what has been described as Sierra Leone’s best performance in the All Africa Games over the years. “While it wishes the team the best of luck in its engagement in Monrovia, the Ministry of Finance assures the nation of its fullest commitment to support the development of sports in the country” the release reads.
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque
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