The President of Traditional Sports Federation of Nigeria Alhaji Mohamed Abdullahi has vowed to transform the Sierra Leone Wrestling Association to international standard
This was disclosed to Awoko Sports by the President of the association Prince Suallay who also mentioned that the first time he met with Alhaji Abdullahi was at the Wrestling competition in Lome, Togo in November last year. Alhaji Abdullahi he said has shown keen interest in helping Sierra Leone wrestling grow.
Prince said that it was during their discussions in Lome that Alhaji Abdullahi promised to help transform Sierra Leone wrestling grow as it has in Nigeria, his home country.
According to Prince Suallay Alhaji is a very influential member of AFLAO, the governing body for traditional wrestling in Africa and he is determined to do everything in his power to make sure that traditional Wrestling reaches a higher height in other countries, besides Nigeria.
Alhaji Abdullahi told Prince Suallay that traditional Wrestling competitions tend to be dominated by Francophone countries such as Senegal, Niger, and Mali who take the Wrestling sports more seriously.
The Wrestling president Prince Suallay has also disclosed to Awoko that the executive of AFLAO, the governing body for traditional Wrestling are expected in town in three weeks time as guests of the Sierra Leone Wrestling Association executive. The main objective is to see how Sierra Leone’s participation at the international arena can be fostered.
The AFLAO team will also pay similar visits to other African countries to render the same assistance.
During their four days stay in the country they will be meeting with the Deputy Minister of Education Youth and Sports Dr Algassimu Jah who is in charge of sports, the president of the National Olympic Committee Henry Moore, the Director of Sports Bai Kabia and a host of other sports personalities in the country.
In another development the Sierra Leone National Wrestling team came 4th in the 7th edition of the Africa Wrestling Tournament which was hosted in Niamey, Niger with twelve countries taking part in the competition instead of the expected 14 countries.
The Wrestlers who represented Sierra Leone in the competition are Abdul Rogers (66kg), Augustine C Kamara (79kg) Captain Mohamed A B Barrie (84kg) and Lahai Marrah (96kg)
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