Sierra Leone disqualified from 2019 AFCON qualifiers

Sierra Leone has been disqualified from the 2019 African Nations Cup qualifiers, the Confederation of African Football said on its website on Monday. The continental football governing body said its Executive Committee, at its meeting on Friday in Accra, took the decision after reviewing the case of Sierra Leone in the qualifiers. “Sierra Leone is disqualified from the qualifiers and all its matches are annulled,’’ a report on the CAF website said. It went on to say that the development would now result in a group of three teams in Group F of the qualifiers. The absence of the country will place Kenya at the summit of the group’s table with seven points, with Ghana following closely on six and Ethiopia with a single point. FIFA had in November suspended Sierra Leone from international football because of government interference in the running of the country’s football association. This was after the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission barred two leading Sierra Leone Football Association officials from the governing body’s offices. “The suspension will be lifted once the SLFA and its recognized leadership confirmed to FIFA that the SLFA administration, premises, accounts and communication channels are under their control once again,” FIFA had said in a statement.