Terekeka battles for LFA status for ‘bigger things’
The Terekeka Sub-Local Football Association (TS-LFA) is pushing to become a part of the full Local Football Association (LFA) rather than continuing to be a sub-local football association.
It is one of the sub-local FAs that play under the Juba Local Football Association in South Sudan, which now has 16 LFAs with over ten sub-LFAs.
Sub-LFAs are often thought of as low divisions still struggling to meet their requirements before becoming LFAs of their own.
However, Yohana Taban Daud, President of Terekeka Sub-Local FA, avers that TS-LFA should stand as a separate LFA rather than being under the Juba Local Football Association of Central Equatoria State.
He claims that by operating as a sub-LFA, the association has missed out on many chances from which it may have gained as a stand-alone organisation.
“Terekeka Sub-LFA has proven beyond doubt that it can and deserves to be an independent LFA because of its football activities in the area every year.”
“We have stayed for a long time, and since the establishment of the TS-LFA in 2016, we have been under the Juba Local Football Association for more than six years, and soon we will reach seven years,” he said.
“And if it is because of the legal requirement of membership of SSFA, I think we are in a better position to be LFAs,” Daud stressed.
According to him, the country’s football rules and regulations state that if any sub-local association is able to organise competitions and follow all the calendars of the South Sudan Football Association accordingly, then such a sub-association deserves to be integrated as a full LFA.
‘‘Terekeka Sub-local FA has been enabled to organise and supervise football in all of its forms in its county, and I think that alone has proven that it is capable of standing on its own,’’ Said Daud.
He believed that having many LFAs and SSFAs in the country would pave the way for the development of grassroots football in the country, thereby increasing talent among South Sudanese youth.
The president added emphasised that the status of being a sub-LFA was working against the aspirations of Terekeka.
“You can’t expect your message to be exactly as you intend it to be received by the nation’s football regulatory organization simply because you have to go through the LFA you are operating under,” he added.
He said that one of the challenges facing the sub-LFAs is that they won’t be part of many trainings where the LFA is given preference for openings when a large number of people are needed.
“Especially for referees’ training, coaching training, and other chances that target only the association rather than sub-locals,” he continued.
He pledged to collaborate closely with the Juba Local Football Association to offer some necessary rules so that Terekeka can fully become a local football association.
Article 13 (1) Admissions of SSFA states that “Any legal person wishing to become a member of SSFA shall apply in writing to the general secretariat of SSFA.”
The same article (2) indicates that the application must be accompanied by a copy of its legally valid statutes or constitutional document and, if applicable, regulations.
It further states that such an organization ‘‘must always follow the statutes, regulations, and decisions of the SSFA, FIFA, and CAF and ensure that these are followed, if applicable, by its own members, clubs, officials, and players.’’
According to the FIFA Rules and Regulations, any association which is responsible for organizing and supervising football in all of its forms in its country may become a member association.
