By Bockarie Allieu
FREETOWN, Aug 23 (SALONE TIMES) – The Sierra Leone Boxing Association on Friday 20th September celebrated the International Boxing Day at the Siaka Steven Stadium Atlantic Hall with the Sports Minister and other Sports personalities in the country.
The theme of the celebration was unity for the Boxers to develop the sport. The occasion was also graced by the Parliamentary Oversight Committee Chairman Hon. Alu Alusine Conteh, Deputy Executive Director of NSA Dr. Abdul Rahman Swaray, Sports Ambassador Junior Bio and several others.
The sports Minister in his statement said he is honored to be among one of the best Boxing executives ever in Sierra Leone. A reason, he said Boxing is registered among the prioritized and seeded sporting discipline among the 49 sporting discipline in the country by the National Sports Authority.
He congratulated them on behalf of the government and the people of Sierra Leone for their relentless effort to promote Boxing in Sierra Leone.
He said they were at the celebration not because they have talents to showcase but because the country has good leadership in the person of President Bio who cares for sports development.
As the Minister in charge of Sports, he said his aim is to see all sports activities nationwide a reason why he commended the Boxing Association for building an ultra-Modern Boxing at the Bo stadium which is yet to be commissioned.
He expressed hope that it will be done in the other provincial headquarter towns. He congratulated the boxers for their remarkable performance in the past All Africa Games in Morocco 2019.
In that event, they were out in the quarter-final stage of the above events. He though advised them to engage in massive talent identification, competitive local boxing competitions, to train local coaches nationwide and the most important good governance and social upbringing of the Boxers.
The Deputy Director General of NSA Dr. Swaray congratulated the association for celebrating the International Boxing Day with the theme Boxing Unites.
He went on that there are only few sporting disciplines in the country without conflict. These conflicts, he said by the help of Lambert Sesay of NSA, they are gradually solving them.
NSA, he said is there to promote and develop sporting disciplines in the country. Dr. Swaray went on that they have 49 sports register with them but said they have single out five top sports as priority of which Boxing is among.
The others, he said are also making head way and it is there duty also to take care of them. On the issue of receiving money from them some of them, he said they do reimburse them after they return back.
Responding to the Minister’s request on building boxing gym in other regions William Becket a member of the Africa Elite Athletes assured the government and the people of Sierra Leone that they are now working in collaboration with the Boxing executive to soon build an ultra-Modern boxing gym in Makeni.
