Thursday, 20 August 2015

AFCON 2017: Sierra Leone to play Ivory Coast in Nigeria next month



Sierra Leone will host Ivory Coast in Nigeria for their
Group I Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on 6 September.
The match will be played in Lagos as Sierra Leone are banned from hosting international matches due to the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
Leone Stars had to play their home tie against Ivory Coast in the 2015 Nations Cup qualifiers in Abidjan after failing to secure a neutral venue.
A ban on domestic football in Sierra Leone was lifted earlier this month.
The Lagos State FA will provide use of the stadium and medical facilities for the game while the Sierra Leone association will cater for all other logistics.
BBC Sport understands top Nigeria Football Federation officials are happy to help and insist Sierra Leone deserves all the support necessary to play their qualifiers.
The Teslim Balogun stadium, which was used during the 2009 Under-17 World Cup, will host the game. It is several weeks since the last reported case of Ebola in Sierra Leone but it is yet to be officially declared free of the deadly disease.
The game against the African champions will be the first in charge for Ghanaian Sellas Tetteh, who has been appointed as Sierra Leone caretaker coach.
Sierra Leone lost their opening Nations Cup qualifier 1-0 to Group I opponents Sudan in June, when John Jebbor Sherington was caretaker coach.
Group I also includes 2017 Nations Cup hosts Gabon but their matches will not count towards qualification. Only the group winners advance to the finals.

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