SSFA, JLFA land dispute draws in Central Equatoria state
The dispute between the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) and Juba Local Football Association (JLFA) over land adjacent to Juba main stadium has drawn in the Central Equatoria State Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Rita Dominic, the Central Equatoria State Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport, said she will raise the matter at the weekly Council of Ministers for resolving.
“We know, Juba Local Football Association and South Sudan Football Association have a problem, but we need to sit down to resolve the matter, we need to find the root cause of the conflict, we are going to discuss it in cabinet but the decision needs to be respected and abided by,” Dominic said during the JLFA general assembly meeting at Bros Hotel in Juba on Saturday.
In January, dispute emerged between the rival football bodies over the land located South- East of Juba stadium.
South Sudan Football Association is led by Gen.Augustino Maduok and Juba Local Football Association under John Lado represents over 60 local football clubs in Juba.
The disagreement over land took on an ugly turn recently when the SSFA banned the board of directors of JLFA from operating activities at Juba national stadium for 12-months.
Peter Bara, a retired footballer urged the feuding bodies to cooperate and support each other to develop the game of football instead of fighting.
Juma Stephen, the head of the national Olympic committee called on the SSFA and JLFA to quickly resolve the dispute over the playing ground.
“We have challenges but we need to be united by the spirit of sport, there is no union as big as the Juba local football association, we have to resolve the dispute to keep sport activities running ,we need to solve problem without seeking court decision,” Stephen said.
