Leadership and governance of football has always been the preserve of men as the game itself until recent interventions, But in the male-dominated battle for supremacy at the various level of football administration a few women have stood up to challenge, and the stereotypical way of manning football by making their voices heard in football administration.

Aisha Johansen is one of such figures who has risen to break socio-cultural barriers and demystify the archaic ideology that only men can steer the affairs of the beautiful game.

Born in 1965 as IshaTejan-Cole, Johansen epitomizes intelligence, courage and determination. In the aftermath of the Sierra Leonean civil war,

Aisha Johansen founded the Johansen Football Club with the objective to provide hope, opportunities and guidance to children who had been hit badly by the war. Less than a decade after its inception, the team made their Sierra Leone’s top flight football in 2011.

Soon after she took over the reins of Sierra Leonean football in 2013 after her main rival Mohammed Kallon was declared unfit to stand for the elections by the SLFA.

She became one of two women to achieve such feat and is the first woman to serve on FIFA’s Security and Integrity Committee and also the only woman currently on the CAF Executive Committee.

Click Link below to hear Aisha Johansen’s full Story in an exclusive Chat she had with Joy Sports George Addo Jnr.