Abdul Karim Koroma (AKK), the lawyer for disqualified Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) presidential candidate Rodney Edmond Michael, has confirmed taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, to seek justice.
This comes after the SLFA Electoral Appeals Committee dismissed his appeal against the association’s Electoral Board’s decision to disqualify him from contesting next month’s elections on the grounds that it does not have the jurisdiction to hear matters adjudicated by the Ethics Board.
Meanwhile, this would be the first-time for an SLFA election matter to be heard by CAS.
AKK said they are disappointed “but not absolutely surprised” by that decision, because from the very first time they went for the ethics hearing, they sensed certain things that caused them to believe that the outcome was predictable.
However, with his client being somebody very responsible that also respects the rule of law, they decided to stay calm and contemplate their next line of action.
“Few days ago, I received a letter from the Secretary General of the SLFA, which conveyed the message from the Appeals Committee, stating that it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to look into the appeals that my client lodged to the Committee. For me, procedurally I think it’s wrong. We have certain issues in respect of the message which came from the Appeals Committee.
“Football has stages; it has rules and regulations which bind football and the conduct of the elections. The first thing we tried to do is to exhaust the local remedies. In my opinion, I think the Appeals Committee have the jurisdiction, (but) they are running away from their responsibility. Since they have officially communicated to us that they don’t have the jurisdiction, I think our next step is to take it to the next level. We will not relent,” he assured.