Sellas Tetteh lines 23-man provisional squad for Sierra Leone despite three days WAFU notice

Published on: 25 September 2019

Head Coach for Sierra Leone Sellas Tetteh has lined up a 23-man provisional squad after the association confirmed they will be present at the regional West African Football Union (Wafu) Cup of Nations in Senegal.

The request to replace guest side Morocco, who withdrew from the event, comes just three days before the 16-team tournament kicks off.

Leone Stars were initially left out of the competition for home-based players as at the time of the draw the country was banned by global football by Fifa.

Sierra Leone's ban was lifted in June making them eligible to play instead of Morocco, who had originally been invited to replace Leone Stars.

The reinstatement means Sierra Leone will face Liberia on Sunday in the tournament's opening round with eight winning nations continuing in the main cup competition.

The eight losers will get another chance as they will play in the second-tier plate competition, both levels will be played on a straight knockout basis.

Sierra Leone's opener gives them the chance to gain a measure of revenge over Liberia, who eliminated them in the preliminary stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers 3-2 on aggregate early this month.

Coach Sellas Tetteh has already named a 22-man provisional squad to start training in Freetown on Wednesday for the tournament.

The tournament will now be part of Sierra Leone's preparations for their opening matches of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Lesotho and Benin in November.

Hosts Senegal will battle it out with Guinea Bissau in Saturday's opening game before Burkina Faso face Mauritania in day's other match.

As well as the Sierra Leone match on Sunday Nigeria face Togo, then on Monday it will be Mali against Niger, Ivory Coast taking on Cape Verde,

Defending champions Ghana will take on Gambia while Guinea plays Benin on Tuesday for the final first round of matches.

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