Sports Steering Committee Chairpersons of the 15 counties have threatened a mass protest action against the Sports Ministry if the Ministry fails to reimburse the expenses incurred by the counties before the postponement of the annual tournament.
At a news conference on Tuesday, the group said the postponement was untimely and embarrassing, given the significant expenses counties made right up to the eve of the games.
Reading the statement, Bomi County Sports Steering Committee Chairman Abdul Kanneh said counties spent thousands of US dollars to sign players, book hotels, purchase materials, and even paid players, only to be told that the tournament had been postponed hours before its kickoff.
Abdul Kanneh added that the majority of the money spent by the counties was obtained through credits and loans with interest, with the expectation of settling them after the disbursement of the preparation funds by the Sports Ministry.
The County Sports Steering Committee Chairpersons’ statement further called on Minister Zeogar Wilson to use the money received from the sponsors to settle their debt.
The statement, backed by their respective Superintendents, also calls on the transitional team to take due cognizance and intervene quickly.
The Sports Ministry received eighty thousand US dollars from AccelorMittal as a sponsorship package, forty thousand from Orange Liberia, and over 85 sets of jerseys from APM Terminal.
The government of Liberia allocated 150,000 US dollars for the tournament, but the Sports Ministry could not secure the funds up to the eve of the tournament.