By Thaimu Thullah – 15th August 2019
The Government of Sierra Leone has rejected the appointment of Ghanaian trainer Sellas Tetteh as the head coach of Leone Stars.
The Sierra Leone Football Association confirmed the appointment of the Ghana Under-20 World Cup winner as their new man on Tuesday.
Tetteh beat off competition from other shortlisted coaches including Goran Stevanovic, Peter Butler, Tahseen Jabbary and Keister who won the 2019 Sierra Leone Premier League with East End Lions.
However, his appointment has not been recognised by Sierra Leone’s Sports Ministry which claims that the selection process for the new coach “did not come to a logical conclusion,” and was “incomplete.”
“The report of the Ministry’s representatives also observed that representative from the Sierra Leone Football Association on the interview panel came with a premeditated mind of appointing the said coach,” part of a statement released on Wednesday August 14 read.
“Therefore the Ministry does not recognize Sellas Tetteh as the Head Coach of the Sierra Leone National Team A because the process was incomplete.
“The Ministry of Sports wants to assure all Sierra Leoneans that the government is committed to supporting sports in the country and the process of appointing the National Team A coach will soon come to a conclusion.”
The Ghanaian trainer was making a return to the West African nation for a second stint after handling the Leone Stars between 2015 and 2017.
The 62-year-old has loads of experience in the field having guided Ghana to win the U20 FIFA World Cup in 2019, the only African coach to achieve such a feat for an African nation.
Tetteh also led the Ghana U20 to the FIFA World Cups in 2013 and 2015 finishing third and round of 16 respectively.
The former Liberty Professionals coach and Technical Director has also been in charge of the Rwanda national team from 2010 to 2011.
Tetteh was also the assistant coach of the Black Stars from 2004 to 2008.
Sellas Tetteh will take charge of Sierra Leone’s 2021 Nations Cup and 2022 World Cup campaigns
Tetteh beat off competition from other shortlisted coaches including Goran Stevanovic, Peter Butler, Tahseen Jabbary and Keister who won the 2019 Sierra Leone Premier League with East End Lions.
The Sierra Leone Football Association, however, says Tetteh’s appointment follows a “through” recruitment procedure.
Tetteh will be in charge of both the Leone Stars’ 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup campaigns.
The former Rwanda coach is currently in Freetown and is expected to have started work on Thursday this week.
His first match in charge will be against Liberia in Monrovia in a 2022 World Cup preliminary round first leg qualifier on 4 March.
The match will mark Sierra Leone’s return to international football after their suspension was lifted by Fifa in June.
Coach Tetteh’s appointment comes exactly four years after he was first given the same job on a temporary basis.
He was in charge of five official games, winning two against Sudan and Chad, losing one to Chad and drawing their 2017 Nations Cup home and away qualifying matches with Ivory Coast.
Coach Tetteh briefly served as caretaker coach of Ghana in 2008 and was also Black Stars assistant coach from 2004 to 2008.
