Isha Johansen

Isha Tejan-Cole Johansen (born c. 1965[1]) is a Sierra Leonean entrepreneur and the current president of the Sierra Leone Football Association. Johansen is one of only a few women in the world to have headed a national football association,[2] along with Lydia Nsekera, the former president of the Burundi football association, Izetta Sombo Wesley, the former leader of the Liberia Football Association and Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association.[3]

Isha Johansen
President of the Sierra Leone Football Association
Assumed office
August 3, 2013
Preceded byNahim Khadi
Personal details
Born
Isha Tejan-Cole

Freetown, Sierra Leone
NationalitySierra Leonean
Spouse(s)Arne Birger Johansen
ResidenceFreetown, Sierra Leone
Chelsea, London

Isha Johansen is the owner and CEO of Sierra Leone National Premier League club F.C. Johansen.

Early life and family

Isha Johansen was born as Isha Tejan-Cole in Freetown, Sierra Leone, into the Tejan-Cole family, who are of Aku Mohammedan descent. She was immersed in football from the very beginning, as her father co-founded East End Lions F.C. in Freetown.[4] Her father took her to see football matches, and she played football with her brothers and their friends.

She was educated at a convent school in Freeport and a boarding school in Yeovil, England.[5]

She was raised in a religious Muslim family. She is married to the Norwegian Consul in Sierra Leone, Arne Birger Johansen.[3]

Football

Isha Johansen founded her own football club, F.C. Johansen, in 2004.[4] The club was started with the objective of giving guidance and opportunities to children whose lives had been disrupted by the recent Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002).[4] It began playing in Division One in 2011 and was promoted to the Premier League the following year.

Johansen was elected president of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) unopposed on 3 August 2013,[6] after her main opponent, former Sierra Leone international footballer Mohamed Kallon was disqualified by the Sierra Leone Football Executive committee for not meeting the SLFA residency requirement in the country.[7][8][9] Kallon appealed his disqualification, but the FIFA delegation to Freetown confirmed the disqualifications of Kallon and two other candidates (for links to gambling),[3] so Johansen was unopposed.[2] When Sepp Blatter was pressured to step down as head of FIFA, Johansen was touted as a possible successor in the press.[10][11]

She launched Powerplay, an initiative to encourage women and girls to play the game and to help empower them.[4] It has the support of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football.[4]

She also started the annual African International Youth Tournament in 2009.[1]

On 7 September 2016, SLFA President Isha Johansen, Vice President Brima Kamara and Secretary General Christopher Kamara were jailed by the Anti-corruption Commission for failing to provide reports regarding the SLFA's financial statements and the use of money.[12] The trio were released after posting bail.[13] FIFA defended the SLFA in a letter, stating, "FIFA has no reason to suspect there has been misuse of funds that FIFA has provided to the SLFA", having audited the SLFA's accounts earlier in the year.[14]

Other activities

In 1993, she became the first woman publisher in the country's history, producing Rapture Magazine, an entertainment publication.[1][4] She was also contributing editor to Ovation magazine.[1] She founded the Pink Charity Fund to combat breast cancer in 2006[1] and the Women of Excellence Awards.[4]

References
  1. OluwaBusayo Sotunde (October 10, 2012). "Meet Isha Johansen - Sierra Leonean Entrepreneur and Football Enthusiast". venturesafrica.com. The 47-year old business savvy entrepreneur ...
  2. Mohamed Fajah Barrie. "BBC Sport - Johansen confirmed as SLFA president". BBC Sport.
  3. "Johansen to be first female president of SLAFA". sportsnet.ca. Associated Press. August 2, 2013.
  4. Lydia Smith (November 21, 2015). "Sierra Leone's FA president Isha Johansen: Meet Africa's most powerful woman in football". International Business Times.
  5. Anna Kessel (January 24, 2015). "Sierra Leone's Isha Johansen blazes trail amid tragedy and infighting". The Guardian.
  6. "ISHA JOHANSEN becomes first woman SLFA President". africayoungvoices.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
  7. "Fresh turmoil in Sierra Leone football elections as former player Kallon disqualified". insidethegames.biz.
  8. "allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: Kallon, Rodney React to SLFA Disqualification". allAfrica.com.
  9. Mohamed Fajah Barrie. "BBC Sport - Fifa endorses decision to ban Kallon from SLFA election". BBC Sport.
  10. James Masters (February 4, 2016). "FIFA elections: Should football elect a woman to replace Sepp Blatter?". CNN.
  11. Desmond Kane (November 18, 2015). "Why can't Isha Johansen be FIFA's first female president?". Eurosport.
  12. Umaru Fofana (8 September 2016). "Sierra Leone Football Association officials arrested by anti-graft agency". Reuters.
  13. "Top Sierra Leone FA officials spend night in jail in corruption investigation". Associated Press. 8 September 2016.
  14. "Fifa backs Sierra Leone FA in use of funds". BBC News. 21 September 2016.
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