Sports

Fifa bans Sierra Leone stadium

31 March 2008 at 01:02 | 9580 views

By Mohammed Fajah Barrie
BBC Sport, Freetown

Sierra Leone’s only international stadium has been banned by football’s world governing body.

Fifa made the move because of poor dressing rooms and a sub-standard pitch at the national stadium in Freetown.

Fifa has told the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) to name a neutral venue by 4 April for their 2010 World Cup home qualifying matches.

The Leone Stars are due to host Nigeria on 7 June and will also play South Africa and Equatorial Guinea.
"I’m disappointed at the decision and I’m going to make representation to Fifa that everything will be in place before 7 June," SLFA secretary-general Alimu Bah told BBC Sport.

"We’ll ask Fifa to reverse their decision, so that we can host our World Cup matches at home."

This is not the first time Fifa has banned the national stadium.

In 1992, the venue was suspended for one year due to overcrowding.

The Leone Stars had to use the 28th September Stadium in neighbouring Guinea to play host to Senegal and Togo in qualifiers for the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations.

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