January 29, 2019
By Sahr Morris Jnr
Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) Director of Competition, Sorie Ibrahim Sesay, has said they are still waiting on the decision of the African football governing body, CAF, on the country Youth U-23 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations second round qualifiers.
Sierra Leone is expected to face Cameroon ,who eliminated Chad in the first round qualifiers, and despite seeing the senior national team been ban from all international football competition, the SLFA competition director still awaits CAF official confirmation on the U-23 qualifiers.
“For us, the U-23 team are still in the 23 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations qualifiers because we are still waiting on CAF to communicate with us otherwise. CAF has never told us of any disqualification, so we are still in the race until we are told something else,” Sorie Ibrahim Sesay said.
If goes as planned, Sierra Leone will take on Cameroon in March this year while the other 12 countries that were given byes from the first round will also be in action.
It will also be the second time Sierra Leone and Cameroon will face each other. In 2015, Sierra Leone eliminated the then Cameroon side on away goals rule, but Algeria went on to eliminate Sierra Leone in the third round qualifiers following a goalless draw and 2-0 win at Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida.
This will be the third edition of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. Zambia was named as the initially scheduled host, but they withdrew from hosting in July 2017.