Monrovia – The President of the Senior Female Professional Football Club, Emmett Stages Glassco, has formally challenged the leadership of the Liberia Football Association (LFA), alleging that the Executive Committee violated the association’s statutes by appointing non-elected members to a statutory committee.
By Christopher C. Walker
In a formal letter addressed to the LFA leadership, Glassco requested “official clarification” over the recent appointments of Ivan Brown and Osman Tall as Chairman and Co-chairman of the Technical and Youth Development Committee, respectively.
Glassco argued that the appointments directly contravene LFA statutes, which he maintains require statutory committees to be chaired and co-chaired strictly by elected members of the Executive Committee.
“I am writing to seek official clarification on the blatant statutory violations perpetrated by the Executive Committee,” Glassco wrote.
He further contended that the constitutional provision allowing for the co-option of Executive Committee members was intended to bring in outside professionals with specialized technical expertise such as lawyers, referees, and medical practitioners rather than to place unelected individuals into leadership positions that should be occupied by elected Executive Committee members.
“The statutory provision for co-opting members was designed to incorporate professional individuals with specialized knowledge in areas such as law, refereeing, and medicine, who may not be elected,” Glassco noted. “This has been the standard practice, adhered to by both previous and current presidents, including the last two terms. Why is this practice now being disregarded?”
Glassco also questioned the current status of the LFA’s Medical and Referees Committees, arguing that their effective representation has become critical following serious medical emergencies witnessed during the previous football season.
“As you are all aware, the league experienced severe life-threatening situations last season, leading to the request for an ambulance at each venue,” he wrote.
The Senior Female Professional FC president further raised concerns about Osman Tall’s return to football administration, claiming he had been informed that Tall was previously expelled from the Executive Committee during the administration of former LFA President Musa Bility, alongside another official identified as Kadiatu.
“We are yet to know the reasons behind Osman Tall’s expulsion and how he got back into football,” Glassco wrote. “We also want to know his contributions to football, considering he has never served as a club president or been affiliated with any LFA league club in the last 10 years.”
Consequently, Glassco called on the Executive Committee to reverse the appointments of Brown and Tall, urging instead the appointment of elected Executive Committee members to lead the Technical and Youth Development Committee.
He argued that such a reversal would align with the LFA Revised Statutes of 2018, as amended in 2022, 2023, and 2026.
Statutes May Present a Different Interpretation
However, a review of the LFA’s constitutional framework appears to present a broader interpretation of the Executive Committee’s composition than the one advanced in Glassco’s letter.
Under Article 45.1 of the amended statutes, the Executive Committee consists of 17 members, comprising one President and 14 other members elected by Congress, and two co-opted members appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Committee.
The provision dictates that the President shall appoint the First Vice President, Second Vice President, and a female Third Vice President from among the elected Executive Committee members, while also proposing two co-opted members to serve as advisers, subject to Executive Committee approval.
Crucially, the text does not explicitly distinguish co-opted members from elected Executive Committee members for statutory committee service. Whether the statutes strictly prohibit co-opted members from chairing these committees remains a matter of interpretation among legal experts and football stakeholders.
LFA Defends Appointments
When contacted regarding the allegations, an LFA Communication manager Anthony Kokoi dismissed Glassco’s claims, asserting that the leadership acted completely within the confines of the law.
According to the source, the framework governing the appointments was formally approved by the body’s highest decision-making organ at the 30th Ordinary Congress.
“The co-option of Mr. Brown and Mr. Tall is in accordance with our current statutes,” Kokoi told FrontPage Africa. “As for the remaining two appointments, they will take effect in line with the provisions set out in the new amendments.”
The latest dispute comes as the football governing body continues to implement wide-ranging governance reforms adopted through recent statutory amendments, with interpretations of those very provisions now threatening to fracture relations between the executive and league leadership.
