AFCON
Sierra Leone call up England-born striker for a ‘must-win’ Afcon qualifier with Benin
As Sierra Leone get set to host away from home, Benin Republic in the postponed and last qualifying match for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Conakry, Guinea, there will be a new face in the squad.
They have called up England-born Sullay Kaikai for the encounter in which they have a zero option.While a draw is sufficient for Benin Republic, Sierra Leone will need an outright win to make the cut among the 24 teams at the Africa’s premier sporting championship slated for Cameroon in January.
According to a BBC report, Sullay Kaikai said appearing consistently for Blackpool for the last two seasons has allowed him to commit to playing international football for Sierra Leone.
The 25-year-old former Crystal Palace player is now set for a debut for the Leone Stars this Monday.
Kaikai, who was born in London to Sierra Leonean parents, is set to leave Blackpool when his contract ends later this month after featuring overall 58 times in League One netting 11 goals since joining the club in 2019.
“I feel like the timing is right now,” Kaikai told BBC Sport Africa.
“Back when you interviewed me about five years ago I was undecided because I wasn’t a first team regular, I said I wanted to establish myself to become a first team regular and then try for the national team.
“So I feel like now I’m in the position to do that, I have been playing for solid two years now regularly as a starter so I feel like now is the right time.
“I’m at a good age, I have been looking forward to it, but it’s just about the timing. I feel like the timing is right now.”
He told BBC Sport Africa that he has already received offers from several clubs and he hopes to join a team before the start of the new season.
Kaikai has recovered from a hamstring injury that meant he missed the climax to Blackpool’s season which saw them promoted to the second-tier of English football via the play-offs with a win over Lincoln City at Wembley.
He explains that the Sierra Leone coach John Keister and the country’s football association have kept in touch with him about his availability for the Leone Stars.
“I have been in contact with the Leone Stars manager for the last year or so consistently,” he continued.
“And even before that to be fair like here and there I have been speaking with the national team but like I said it’s just about time, I feel now the time is right so I feel like that’s the main factor. That was what motivated me to come.”
He says he has been following Leone Stars closely and hopes he can help them qualify for the Nations Cup finals for the first time in 25 years.
“For about a good three to four years I have been following the national team,” he added..
“I have been following one of the pages that keeps me updated on the national team and players that are playing for the national team and how they’re doing in their respective countries where they’re playing their club football”
“I’m looking forward to making my international debut against Benin. It’ll be a dream come true to play for your country
“Qualifying for the Nations cup it’s something I hope and pray for. The more players that can come and play for the national team the better.
“You know we need to make the national team stronger so that we can start qualifying regularly for this kind of tournament.
“So I hope I can make an impact.”
However Kaikai, who is also eligible to play for England, is honest about his aspiration to play for the country of his birth when he was a youngster.
“Being born in England you know you have the dream of playing for England when you see them making the World Cup and the Euros, You want to play in those tournaments,” he admitted.
“So as a youngster that is one of the aims but as you grow up you kind of see where you are in your career and you have to be realistic, for me England is unrealistic now so I feel it is a good choice to play for my country.”
Leone Stars coach John Keister has also included another England-born player in his squad – 21-year-old Idris Kanu who plays for Peterborough United, who finished just above Blackpool to earn automatic promotion to the Championship.
“I’m happy to have Kaikai and Kanu in the squad,” the coach said.
“I’ve personally been trying to get Sullay now for a while because I felt he was a young boy with lots of potential. Obviously now he’s showing that and we wanted those potentials coming to the national team.
“What he brings is lots of competitions, a lot of enthusiasm. He gives us a better squad, a good bench, pace that we need, and also he gives us youth and something that’s very different going forward.”
“What we’re trying to do is we are building a very youthful side for the future. Idris Kanu too is a player with good potential.”
Keister also admitted that he and the SLFA are hoping to persuade more players to commit to Sierra Leone.
“We’re trying to talk to a few other players as well,” he said.
“I have said that the national team is in transition, I’m trying to do it, the experienced players have been there with us with patience going to through a final game.”
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
With CAF referring the case of the botched Libya-Nigeria match to its
Disciplinary Board, a nine-man panel has the task of deciding which party was at fault.
Possible decision could be forfeiture of the match by the offending party or rescheduling of the fixture. The latter seems unlikely considering the already congested international calendar.
Even if that were to be the decision, the match would likely be taken to a neutral ground.
On the other hand, the board may also take it that it was Nigeria that refused to play the match after having hosted the first leg.
In that case, Article 62 of the competition’s regulations will be enforced. It reads: “Any team that withdraws or refuses to play the return match after having played the first leg on its territory must refund the association of the visiting team a minimum sum of fifteen thousand (15,000) U.S. dollars in reparation for the damage suffered by the host country.”
If the NFF is adjudged as the culprit, the body will be fined $15,000. Chapter 19 of the regulations gives a window to appeal the fine. But judging from the CAF statement of the situation, and the condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Super Eagles, the fine is very unlikely as the weight of evidence tilts against the Libyans who in the x-handle admitted keeping the Super Eagles in captivity with an explanation that episode was largely due to an airport protocol mishap.
A decision lies firstly on the nine-man panel. With the possibility of the losing side not satisfied, another nine-man panel, the Appeals Board will take a possible final decision which can only be contested at the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS)
Here are the decision-makers:
Disciplinary Board
- Ousmane Kane, Senegal. – President.
- Jane Njeri Onyango, Kenya – Vice President.
- Norman Arendse, South Africa – member
- Mohamed Mostafa El-Mashta, Egypt. – member
- Djonfoune Golbassia Felix, Chad. – member
- Patrick Shale, Lesotho – member
- Douma Ibrahim Issaka – Niger. -member
- Ruth Kisaakye, Uganda. -member
- Drucil Taylor, Sierra Leone. – member
Appeal Board
Justice Roli Daibo Harriman, Nigeria
Faustino Varela Monteiro, Cape Verde
Moez Ben Tahar Nasri, Tunisia
Moses Ikanqa, Namibia
Hamoud T’feil Bowbe, Mauritania
Mohamed Robleh Djama, Djibouti
Asogbavi Komlan, Togo
Justice Masauko Timothy Msungama, Malawi
Lubamba Ngimbi Hector, DR Congo
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The Libya-Nigeria Group D tie of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers scheduled for this Tuesday has been put off owing to the refusal of the Libyan authorities to allow the Nigerian team to enter their territory for the match.
As a result, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has referred the case to its Disciplinary Board to make an appropriate decision. The immediate consequence of this is the delay of the Nigerian team picking an early qualification as has been done by Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Algeria who have all qualified after four matches.
A win by Nigeria on Tuesday would have taken their point haul to 10 while a draw would take their total to eight. That way, irrespective of the result of the Rwanda-Benin Republic corresponding match would have qualified the Super Eagles for Morocco 2025 as they would not have ended below second position in Group D.
They now await the decision of the CAF body. A possible outcome could be Libya’s forfeiture of the match. A case in point is that of USM Alger of Algeria versus Morocco’s RS Berkane in last year’s Confederation Cup semi-final duel when the Moroccans were unjustly delayed at the airport by the Algerians.
In the case of the Super Eagles, it was worse as theirs was not just delayed, they were locked up in a desolate airport in what was a psychologically draining and energy sapping tactics.
Five-time winners Cameroon and 2019 champions Algeria both booked their places at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco after victories in qualifying on Monday, bringing the number of qualified teams to four.
Cameroon defeated Kenya 1-0 when Boris Enow scored the only goal of the game in neutral Kampala, while Ramy Bensebaini netted a first-half spot-kick winner for Algeria against Togo in Lome.
Enow drilled a low free-kick into the goal from just outside the box as Cameroon dominated the contest and did enough to win in the absence of their federation president Samuel Eto’o, who is serving a six-month stadium ban by world governing body FIFA.
The victory takes Cameroon to 10 points from four games in the pool and ensured they cannot finish outside of the top two, which is enough to secure a place at the 24-team finals.
Algeria have a full haul of 12 points from four games after Bensebaini converted a penalty on 18 minutes to give them lead, but they had to weather heavy pressure from their hosts, who created enough chances to get something from the game.
Cameroon and Algeria join the hosts and Burkina Faso as the four teams so far confirmed for the finals.
Zimbabwe moved into a strong position in their pool with a 3-1 win over Namibia in neutral Johannesburg that leaves them on eight points, four ahead of third-placed Kenya with two rounds to play. One of those fixtures is at home to Kenya next month.
Walter Musona scored a brace, one a penalty, to go with a strike from Prince Dube.
Equatorial Guinea are five points clear in second place in their pool after a 2-1 win over Liberia in Monrovia.
Luis Asue had them in front early, but William Gibson equalised for the hosts. Just as it appeared the game would end in a draw, Dorian Hanza netted a 94th minute winner.
Musa Barrow scored the decisive goal for Gambia in their 1-0 victory over Madagascar, making up for a penalty miss earlier in the game
Gambia move into second place in their pool, ahead of Comoros on head-to-head record, but having played a game more.
Mozambique moved to the top of their pool with a 3-0 win over Eswatini in Nelspruit, their first goal scored by 40-year-old winger Domingues.
They are five points clear of third-placed Guinea Bissau, who host Mali on Tuesday.
-Reuters
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