The newly appointed Team Manager of the Sierra Leone homebased national team, Alhaji Umar Bah, and team coordinator Victor Lewis are both optimistic about ensuring Chan’s qualification.

Bah’s first mission is to see Leone Stars B side overcome Cape Verbe when the two sides meet in July in the Morrocan capital. 

The winner of the two-legged matches will face Mali in the next stage. Sierra Leone has never qualified for the African Nations Championship exclusively for local stars from the respective national leagues.

The Business tycoon, who was unveiled by the Sierra Leone Football Association, SLFA, at their secretariat on Friday, has hailed the FA for their trust in him.

“Firstly, let me take this opportunity to appreciate the SLFA for their confidence in me with the National home-based team,” Chairman of Real Republicans Football Club and the CEO of Sierramin Bauxite Mining Company told footballsierraleone.net.

Assuring football enthusiasts, Bah, whose leadership has revamped Republicans Football Club to a Premier League playoff spot, started a relentless work ahead of next month’s qualifiers.

“I am here to work relentlessly. I am around people who are ready to let us all succeed. The aim is taking the home-based national side to another level.”

Team coordination (In the photo with TM Bah) and owner of Premier League side East End Tigers, Victor Lewis, is bullish over Bah’s appointment but admitted their task is immense but one that can be accomplished.

“It’s a task, but one that for the first time we have to accomplish for Sierra Leone,” He told this medium. We must try our best to qualify for Algeria.”

Coach Francis Zappa Koroma’s side has been in training since the beginning of June ahead of their doubleheader.

Sierra Leone was eliminated by Senegal 4-2 on aggregate during the 2018 African Nations Championship qualifiers. 

The country was ineligible for the 2020 tournament due to a FIFA sanction.

All ties are slated to be played over two legs, with the winners on aggregate reaching the next stage of the qualifiers. First-round first-leg matches will be played between 22 and 24 July, with the return legs a week later.

Algeria, already qualified as the host nation, the final tournament is scheduled to be played in Algeria from 8–31 January 2023.

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, CHAN Qualifiers – Football News African. 

Sierra Leone dropped from 108 to 113th in the latest FIFA global rankings after their opening 2023 African Cup of Nations 2-1 defeat to Nigeria and 2-2 against Guinea-Bissau this month.

The Leone Stars of Sierra Leone suffered a 2-1 defeat to three-time African champions Nigeria at the MKO Abiola Stadium on June 9th before they fought from two goals down to draw parity with visiting Djurtus on June 13th at the General Lansana Conté stadium in Guinea.

As a result, they are now 82 places below Afcon 2023 Group A leaders Nigeria, two places ahead of Guinea-Bissau and 74th spots ahead of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The Leone Stars’ next outing will be a back-to-back qualifying game against São Tomé and Príncipe in September.

In the Global rankings, Brazil reigned over the top ten national teams, ahead of Belgium and Argentina.

FIFA’s June World Rankings (March world rankings top Ten 

Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, France, England, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark.

Top ten in Africa 

18. Senegal, 22 Morocco, 30 Tunisia, 31 Nigeria, 38 Cameroon, 40 Egypt, 41 Algeria, 46 Mali, 52 Cote d’Ivoire and 55 Burkina Faso (56)

#SierraLeone #latest @FIFAcom #Ranking from 108 to 113 after they secured 1 point from two #AFCON2023Q games against Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau this month #SaloneTwitter @bittar32 pic.twitter.com/pWrHiPa5ZF

— Alie Bittar (@bittar32) June 23, 2022

⚽️ Latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking is out!

🇧🇷 Brazil stay top 💪
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan the big climbers 🧗
🇫🇷 France fall out of the top three 📉
🇦🇷 Argentina onto the podium 🏅

👉https://t.co/a21y1LVBnL pic.twitter.com/OkJ6mWnsFm

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) June 23, 2022

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, FSLNews – Football News African. 

By Paul Augustine Kpaka, former Sierra Leone International

As part of their official state visit to Qatar, President Bio, First Lady Madam Fatima Bio, Foreign Affairs Minister Professor David Francis and other government officials on Sunday, June 19, 2022, were given a guided tour of the Lusail Stadium in Doha, Qatar. 

The 80,000-seat arena, a state-of-the-art centrepiece of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, will embody the tiny nation’s grand ambition and its passion for sharing Arab culture with the world. 

The Stadium will host nine matches, including the final, with billions around the globe keenly watching on. Work commenced at the venue in 2017 before completion early this year. 

It took an estimated 10,000 primarily migrant workers to construct the entire venue. At maximum capacity, the magnificent facility is capable of hosting up to 100,000 people, including 15,000 operational staff, 3,200 journalists, members of the written press, digital media and its infrastructure, photographers, and security personnel. 

According to the stadium guide, Lusail Stadium will be transformed into a multi-purpose community space at the end of the FIFA World Cup tournament, including shops, schools, cafes, sporting facilities and health clinics. 

As part of the conversion, most of the stadium’s 80,000 seats and other materials will be removed and possibly donated to sporting projects. The idea is to take the Qatar 2022 legacy and a bit of FIFA World Cup history to different locations around the globe. 

Towards the end of their guided tour, the president inquired about Stadium 974. Located on the shores of the Gulf, across the water from Doha’s dazzling West Bay skyline, Stadium 974 is one of the venues that will host matches at the upcoming World Cup. 974 is the international dialling code for the host nation Qatar, and 974 is the exact number of shipping containers used in its construction.

The 40,000-seater venue has a distinctive design in that it will be the first fully demountable tournament venue in FIFA World Cup history. Upon hearing this, the First Lady, in a subtle, deft and diplomatic manner, inquired about the possibility of Sierra Leone being one of the beneficiaries of the demountable materials. Her question elicited immediate laughter among both the Sierra Leone and Qatar delegations present. 

It can be recalled that the president has come under constant scrutiny and criticism for his many international travels and their huge cost to the state. His critics claim the president travelling at such a frequent pace puts a lot of strain on the country’s Consolidated Revenue Fund-CRF, monies that could instead be spent on other much-needed social services like health care. 

The president and his defenders have repeatedly stated that his many travels are for the purpose of “rebranding” the country’s negative image in an effort to make the country much more attractive for Foreign Direct Investment – FDI, through bilateral and multilateral engagements with other nations, international organisations and donor partners. 

If this kind of “football diplomacy” yields the much-needed investment in football infrastructure, which everyone agrees is desperately lacking, then it would be taxpayers’ money well spent. The end, in this case, will clearly justify the means.

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, FSLNews – Football Feature News African.

@PresidentBio & First Lady @Ladyfatimabio visited Qatar's Lusail 85,000 capacity stadium on Sunday, June 19.

The multi-purpose Lusail is one of the stadiums built for the @FIFAWorldCup this year. @FIFAWorldCupQTR #Qatar2022#SaloneTwitter #African @football_sierra pic.twitter.com/j8SPL8hcZm

— Alie Bittar (@bittar32) June 20, 2022