April 18, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Sierra Leone female beach volleyball teams were robbed of the chance to qualify for this year’s Rio Olympic Games after they failed to reach the semi-finals of the beach volleyball Olympic qualifiers at the Jabi Lake in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Sierra Leonean quartet was reportedly denied the chance of making it through to the semi-final of the tournament following a terrible blunder from the first referee in their match against Mauritius.
According to Florence Amara, the media officer who traveled with the team to Abuja, the referee’s mistake left the watching crowd in shock. She said: “The referee’s blunder left a huge doubt in the faces of fans and supporters.
“The Sierra Leone coach, Sorie Kamara, furiously protested for the bad call and has vowed to pursue it with the referee delegate.”
Amara further revealed that Sierra Leone team Two pair of Francess Lansana and Zainab Kamara dropped their first set to Mauritius team One by 18-21, but the pair bounced back and took the second set convincingly with 21-12 win to settle for the decider set which they narrowly lost by 15-17 following the referee’s howler.
The Sierra Leone team One lost two straight sets – 18-21, 20-22 – to Mauritius team Two, while both teams had a dismal performance against host Nigeria, losing two straight sets each.