By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Sierra Leone Football Association have told to Politico that they country is ready for the West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations tournament that will be hosted in Senegal. The Head of Media and Marketing at the FA, Ibrahim Kamara gave the assurance despite the short notice of invitation for the tournament.
Sierra Leone was not originally drawn to play in the regional tournament because it was serving a FIFA ban which barred the national team from taking part in international competitions. However, the country had to be invited on Tuesday 23rd September, following the withdrawal of Morroco from the tournament.
“We are prepared. Basically, WAFU does everything for this tournament; they pay for flight tickets, book the hotel etcetera. All we must do is to assemble the team and make ourselves available in Senegal, which we are on the process of doing now.”
WAFU Cup of Nations will see 16 teams including hosts Senegal participate. This is the second edition of the tournament. The tournament is organized by the regional football body to groom home based players in West African countries. All players who will participate in the tournament are players who are currently playing within their home countries.
The tournament is set to run from the 28th September to October 13th, 2019. Sierra Leone has been drawn to face Liberia, a familiar opponent. All winners of their first encounter will progress to play for the WAFU cup and the losers will play for the WAFU shield.
Kamara said amid all the rush to make it to the tournament, the technical team and the players will be dealing with the same set of players that were already involved in the recent preparations of the national team for the 2022 World Cup preliminary qualifiers.
“The boys are well prepared, and the technical team is prepared. The same boys (home based players) that were assembled to play the recent qualifiers against Liberia are the same boys we have recalled. We just went for a break after the games against Liberia, now that break is over. We are back in training. So, we are going to select the18 man squad from this group of players to travel to Senegal and take part in the tournament. After the tournament they will come back home and try to get ready for the AFCON qualifiers in November,” he said.
Sierra Leone will start its preparation for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in November, when they will face Lesotho in Freetown and Benin in Cotonou.
Following the invitation of the national team, the technical team has since invited 22 players for emergency training sessions. Sierra Leone has three days to prepare for their first match which will be on Sunday.
Whiles a huge chunk of the home-based players will be travelling to Senegal to take part in this tournament, the country’s local league is expected to start soon. Kamara said there is no cause for alarm since only few players have been selected from the Premier League teams.
“Their playtime with the national team always comes first, just like the international players; every time we have a game, we write to their clubs to release them. Its not like we are taking the whole premier clubs to the tournament. We will just take few players from different teams.”
As the FA and the team ramps up preparations, there is no departure date yet. But Kamara said their flight have already been booked by WAFU to travel to Senegal for the tournament.
LIST OF 22 PLAYERS
NAME CLUBS
Goalkeepers
Mohamed N. Kamara East End Lions
Isaac Caulker FC Kallon
Unisa Conteh FC Johansen
Defenders
Ibrahim Mansaray FC Kallon
Mohamed Mansaray Mighty Blackpool
Abubakar Samura FC Kallon
Yemi Dunia East End Lions
Henry Jah Mighty Blackpool
Alpha Conteh Bo Rangers
Midfielders
Abu Dumbuya East End Lions
Alfred Nurman Central Parade
Kenewa Steven FC Kallon
Mahmoud Fofanah FC Kallon
Saidu Fofanah FC Kallon
Edmund Micheal Old Edwardians
Alimamy Bundu East End Lions
Prince Barrie Bo Rangers
Emmanuel Samadiya FC Kallon
Nani Jah East End Lions
Strikers
Musa N. Kamara East End Lions
Baimba Kamara East End Tigers
Suffian Kalokoh Bo Rangers
© 2019 Politico Online
