Sierra Leone women’s national team head coach Abdulai Bah has defended his position following a move by the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) asking him to step down to pave way for investigations into the alleged sexual abuse.
The team went to camp on several days to prepare for the Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Gambia and after the final squad was named, allegations of demands for sex from the gaffer cropped up.
Bah, as the federation stated in an earlier communique, was adversely mentioned in the claims but the former coach of Sierra Leone’s male African Nations Championship (Chan), says he is clean and will be vindicated at the end of it all.
“I must say I was utterly shocked and spellbound in disbelief,” the coach said in a statement.
“The allegations against me are completely untrue and unfounded. As a professional, I have always maintained the highest standards required.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”As a family man, I will never molest or use my position to gain any physical and emotional advantage against young women in the national team who are young enough to be my children.[/perfectpullquote]
“I have accepted the SLFA directives to step aside until further investigation is carried out. I will however hope this investigation will be carried out swiftly to prove my innocence.
“It is my hope that investigation into such matters don’t take forever as my only source of livelihood is from football which is being affected by claims and allegations that have no basis.”
Bah, who took charge of the Sierra Queens in August 2020, has since be replaced by coach assistant Hassan Malik Mansaray.
Mansaray was in charge of Monday’s Queens return-leg match against the Gambia where the his charges were held to a 1-1 draw in Banjul to exit the competition 3-1 on aggregate.
Photo: Coach Bah (left) led the Sierra Queens in the first leg of their AWCON qualifier last week.
