Hiiraan Online
Monday, March 23, 2015
Somaliland’s sports and youth minister Ahmed Abdi Kahin
HARGEISA (HOL) ---Security forces in the breakaway Somaliland region arrested three football including two local players and an instructor from Somalia’s sports league, accusing them of planning to induce local players to move to Mogadishu to join Mogadishu football clubs.
Somaliland which declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia maintains its status of being an independent state by employing its own government, army and separate financial system.
Somaliland’s sports and youth minister Ahmed Abdi Kahin announced the arrests of Mustafa Abdi Haddi, secretary general for Somaliland Olympics committee, Ahmed Kosar Hussein from Somaliland along with Mohamed Farah Ajab, an Olympics instructor from Somalia on Monday, accusing them of training local players to fly them to Mogadishu to take part regional football tournament which set to take place in Mogadishu without the ministry’s knowledge.
Initial reports say that the arrested officials were undertaking trainings for five local stars. The arrested officials were later summoned by the sports and youth ministry, which instructed their arrest after interrogations.
No comments could be reached from Somalia’s sports authorities on the developments.
The development comes as Somalia’s football and Olympics federations have swayed several players, including foreigners from Kenya and Nigeria to join local teams in an attempt to improve Somalia’s long muddled sports system.
Somalia's national players who attend international tournaments often return home with disappointing defeats as the result of poor trainings and skills. However, sports experts see a progress behind curtains for now as stadiums once used for warlords or militants trainings are being rebuilt after the ouster of Islamist insurgents from the capital and beyond.
Despite the progress, Somalia which can probably be forgiven for the malfunction due to the decades of war that left the once prestigious football system is a long way to go to match its neighboring countries with skilled players and a well-functioning sports system.