By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
The Confederation of African Football has on 4th May 2023 rejected the Sierra Leone Football Association’s proposal to host Matchday 5 of the AFCON 2023 Qualifiers match between Sierra Leone vs Nigeria at the newly constructed Southern Arena in Bo City, given that as a result of the lack of standard hotels in the country’s second capital, Bo District Southern Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone has early on submitted a proposal to CAF for match day 5 to be hosted at the newly built Southern Arena Stadium which is in the Southern Districts of the Country main for the Football Fans back watch their national team in a crunch match against the Super Eagles of Nigerian. The Sierra Leone Senior National team is presently in the 3rd Position with five points with two matches remaining in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers while the Super Eagles of Nigeria are currently top group A with ten points.
The clash with Sierra Leone Senior National team Leone Stars with a win will see them seal their qualifications to Ivory Coast next year.
After their last match against Sao Tome Principe in Morocco the head coach of the Senior National team Leone Stars said the last two matches are must-win matches if the Country is to qualify for the next AFCON in which most of the players present said they will qualify the country to the next tournament.
The country’s football governing body will again choose a neutral venue to host the country’s final home match in the qualifying series for the TotalEnergies AFCON 2023.
The Sierra Leone Football Association now have other option to choose from either in Liberia or Morocco where they last hosted their last matches against Sao Tome Principe where they grab four points.
Another Development Two senior officials- Madame Fatou Ndong Assistant Secretary and Mohamed Jiddou Coordinator from the West Africa Football Union (WAFU) Zone-A yesterday arrived in Sierra Leone for a three-day working visit in preparation for this year’s U20 Female Tournament to be contested in Bo and Kenema. The tournament is expected to take place from Monday the 22nd of May to Saturday the 3rd of June 2023.