SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – County Superintendent D. Dorr Cooper has said the lack of finances might make it difficult for Nimba to appear in this year’s iteration of Liberia’s most popular sporting tournament.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports had recently announced that the National County Sports Meet would kick off on December 2 in Gbarnga, Bong.

Cooper said Nimba would struggle in raising the money to participate in this year’s contest.

“Floyd Tomah has been the one providing money for the team, and we still owe him over US$150,000,” the superintendent said. “We need to pay Floyd his money; and right now, the county does not have any money in its coffers.”

Tomah is also the chairman of the Nimba County Sports Steering Committee.

Nimba has always been fully represented in the National County Sports Meet with the volleyball, basketball, kickball, and football teams all present.

Over the years, financial support to sporting activities in the county has come from allotments made from the County Social Development Funds, which has not been made available this year.

“The president has said that Nimba County will not benefit from the US$1.5 million County Social Development Funds from [ArcelorMittal] and the US$200,000 County Development Fund from the Government of Liberia this year,” Cooper told said during a meeting held in the county’s capital, Sanniquellie.

Nimba’s football team has a huge fan base, but it has failed to clinch the trophy over the past three years. Last year, when Nimba was the favorite to win the trophy, fans’ hopes were dashed after the overall victor, Maryland, crushed the Mountain Boys 3-0 in the semifinals.

Nimba’s head coach Muta Fofana announced his resignation and vowed not to work with the county anymore. Since then, the team has been managed by the former assistant coach, Ambra Dahn.

Although the superintendent has expressed concerns over the county having the funds to compete, Dahn has commenced practice and training sessions for the team in Sanniquellie. However, Fofana has now expressed an interest in taking the team to this year’s county meet.

County authorities have not yet decided who will coach the team.

“People should understand that football is a different thing,” Musa Kromah, the team manager, told Radio Kergheamahn in an interview on the subject. “Ambra [Dahn] does not have the qualification to lead the team as head coach—he needs to have a C or B Certificate. Muta [Fofana] has the qualification that can permit him to coach even outside Liberia; if he wants to come back and help the team, we should accept it.”

It is expected that the heads of Nimba County Administration, the County Sports Steering Committee, and the team’s technical arm will meet in Sanniquellie over the weekend to decide if and how the county will participate in this year’s National County Sports Meet.

For this year’s tournament, Nimba has been drawn in Group B, alongside its all-time rival and host of the group, Bong. Lofa and Grand Gedeh will also be in the group.

Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley, Jr.