ASM: That’ s great, …. now I have to say you are considered one of very few team owners who have recently given a global face to Sierra Leone football. How does it feel like to be mentioned along the likes of Mohamed Kallon and Isha Johansen? These are owners who have raised the profile of Sierra Leone football in the international scene, so what does it feel like to be mentioned along with those two individuals?
Elijah Kellie: First of all I feel privileged and I have to congratulate Mr. Kallon and Ms. Isha. They are absolutely doing a tremendous job. They have taken Sierra Leone Football to another level. But not just them I believe there are other people like team managers and others that are actually doing well that we don’ t know about. Because when I was there, I found out that there are a lot of people helping the situation out. However I basically feel privileged and I have to thank God because I am not at their level in terms of their financial situation but FC Kellie is still going strong since 2007 by the grace of God. I am just hoping that one day God will open doors and sponsorship will come in to help those kids.
ASM: Now that we have mentioned Isha Johansen and I believe you probably have your feelers out there about pretty much what goes on in the football world of Sierra Leone, you know that there has been an ongoing setback with the national football leadership of Sierra Leone Football Association( SLFA). What do you make of that as one who is vested in the development of the game in the country?
Elijah Kellie: Well to be honest I don’ t really know what’ s going on in the SLFA in Sierra Leone but whoever they appoint I will give them my support and I believe that they will use the position to their strength to make changes to the situation in Sierra Leone and also I want to encourage Federation International Football Association( FIFA) to put in more effort in Sierra Leone’ s football. It is not just about talking and giving money. I will like FIFA to actually put in more effort at the grassroots level of the game, to actually look into the situation in Sierra Leone. So it’ s not about the top levels right now or about the Premier League or about who is going to be the leader or who is not going to be the leader. I believe if FIFA really wants to help Sierra Leone they can start from the grassroots. That’ s why I give credit to the Craig Bellamy Foundation, the FC Kallon Foundation and Isha and what she is doing you know. We need to start from the basic instead of at the top.
ASM: Now let’ s go back to your club. What are the current issues that your club faces and how do you intend to resolve them?
Elijah Kellie: Well the current issue at the moment facing my club honestly is unlike most clubs in Sierra Leone at the moment who are financially strong and can afford to pay their players salaries to keep them going. The one issue at the moment is financial problems. So I definitely need support from organizations out there to come in and help as partners and through sponsorships so we can give the kids a future It’ s not all about football you know, some kids that play for FC Kellie cannot go to school because they can ' t afford the school fees and some of them have issues with families and so we are helping them outside of football in terms of their education, health, and many other issues … so we definitely need partnerships and organizations to come in and help.
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