October 5, 2017 By Sahr Morris Jnr
Female football players
Sierra Queens of Sierra Leone will take on Mali in the first round of Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers next year.
The two sides will face off in the in the first round of qualification in February with the Queens hosting the first leg in Freetown before moving away to Bamako for the return leg.
If the Sierra Leonean girls are able to get-passed their Malian opponent, they will have to face the winner between Morocco and Ivory Coas, who would also battle in the first round.
Meanwhile, the 2018 edition of the Africa Women Cup of Nations tournament will be held in Ghana from November 17 to December 1st and will also double as the qualifiers for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The top three teams in Africa will gain an automatic qualification to the World Cup showpiece.
In 2014, Sierra Leone withdraw from the Namibia 2014 African Women’s Championship (AWC) qualifiers with the SLFA head of media unit then, John Konteh, unable to give reasons for the decision to withdraw the team’s participation in the qualifiers which led to the African football governing body, CAF to levy a fine of US$1000 on the SLFA.
The full draw of this year’s qualifiers include; First Round: Senegal v Algeria, Libya v Ethiopia, Morocco v Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone v Mali, Burkina Faso v Gambia, Congo v South Africa, Kenya v Uganda, Lesotho v Swaziland, Tanzania v Zambia, Namibia v Zimbabwe.
Second Round: Senegal/Algeria v Libya v Ethiopia , Morocco/Ivory Coast v Sierra Leone/Mali, Burkina Faso/Gambia v Nigeria , Congo/Central Africa v Cameroon, Kenya/Uganda v Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho/Swaziland v South Africa, Tanzania/Zambia v Namibia/Zimbabwe.