Sierra Leone Disqualified From 2019 AFCON Qualifiers

Sierra Leone Disqualified From 2019 AFCON Qualifiers

Sierra Leone have been disqualified from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign because of government interference in the country’s football association.

Football’s world governing body FIFA had suspended the Sierra Leone Football Association in October due to “government interference”.

CAF also said that all Sierra Leone’s matches during the qualifying campaign are now “annulled.”

Here’s Why CAF Stripped Cameroon Of Africa Cup Of Nations Hosting Rights

The new development, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Confederation of African Football, means Kenya and Ghana will qualify for next year’s Nations Cup finals from Group F.

“The CAF Executive Committee at its meeting on Friday, 30 November 2018 in Accra decided on the case of Sierra Leone in the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

“Sierra Leone is disqualified from the qualifiers and all its matches are annulled,” CAF said in a statement on its official website on Monday.

The row stems from the decision of Sierra Leone’s anti-corruption commission to sack SLFA president Isha Johansen and general secretary Christopher Kamara during an ongoing probe into corruption and mismanagement.

In October, CAF cancelled two matches pitting Sierra Leone against Ghana due to the dispute between Freetown and FIFA.

Meanwhile, CAF is set to find a new AFCON 2019 hosts after stripping the hosting rights from Cameroon last weekend due poor preparation.