In African football dynamics we’ve come to expect a lot of our leaders. Top football honchos , the thinking goes, should have the intellectual capacity to make sense of unfathomably complex issues, the imaginative powers to paint a vision of a great future that generates everyone’s football enthusiasm, the operational know-how to translate strategy into concrete plans, and the interpersonal skills to foster commitments and get valuable collaborations this is what Sierra Leone FA President and the iron lady of African football Madam Isha Johansen has been upto this week in her meetings both at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich and in Barcelona where she sort to open up collaboration between Africa and Barcelona.
In Zurich where Isha Johansen attended her first FIFA members association committee meeting its prudent to note key talking points and deliverables were discussed and While somewhat simplified, these capabilities from a passionate football administraror span the intellectual and interpersonal, the rational and intuitive, and the conceptual and creative capacities required in today’s football environment the next football stop for Isha Johansen was Barcelona in Spain another round trip to try and consolidate football growth for Africa and Sierra Leone through collaborations.
Despite the jet lag from one European country to the other key issues were discussed in Barcelona when President Isha Johansen met with top officials led by Executive CEO’s Oscar Garau Gomar and Nacho Mestre the CEO of the Barcelona Foundation managing to convince one of the World’s wealthiest clubs to have serious collaboration with Africa this meeting came just months as a follow up to her meeting with Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartoumeu.The invite to Barcelona was in honour of her contribution to the development of Sierra Leone football and her position in Africa where she is the only elected woman elected CAF executive committee member.
In good old Africa, Leadership and governance at any high level is not for the faint hearted.People seek public office to make a mark and leave impending legacies in their respective endevours some make it while a sizeable chunk realise later that much to their changrin how murky and shark- infested the waters can get.Often times it is no walk in the part and football administration is no different that is why its sometimes funny to see some people trying to fight Isha Johansen back at home in Sierra Leone where she is highly respected and acclaimed abroad because of her vision and passion for football.
Indeed as former Nigeria football federation president Emeka Omeruah once famously quipped, football is turbulent work.It is like walking through a minefield if you don’t get your legs blown up, you are subconsciously playing the dreaded Russian Roulette, as for charismatic Isha Johansen who has succeeded in the exclusive domain of men she has seen it all through manipulation,false accusations and men ganging up trying to use ill gotten wealth to unseat her has been able to trash that notion breaking those social and cultural barriers Isha Johansen has set it all in the beautiful game to rise to the very top of football management.
People like Mr.Sanusi Bruski Kargbo who is the chairman of East End Lions FC and has declared his interest in the SLFA presidency must take note its one thing to be someone’s project and its another having the passion and capability of running football both in Sierra Leone and CAF its no child’s play ground as leadership cannot be equated to the money one uses to try and influence for votes but on what one has to offer in leadership.
President Isha Johansen has swum through the rough tides to the apex of football management her story is one that may take generations to rewrite in a continent still mired in the shackles of male leadership syndrome (MLS).She loves football without coercion or cajole, her meteoric rise to the pinnacle can only be described as an act of destiny not favours like some expect to get.
Isha Johansen in deep conversation with Barcelona Official
