Football match between Sierra Leone and the Republic of Benin will be played today in the Guinean national stadium. Fresh COVID-19 tests have been conducted, and the game plays today.
The match would have taken place yesterday, but results of COVID-19 tests led to a the postponement. Six Sierra Leonean footballers were said to be COVID-19 positive including two of the three goal-keepers.
The situation was too much for the Sierra Leonean football team prompting Sierra Leonean authorities not to allow the game to play.
“We cannot play a game with just one goal keeper. It is unacceptable,” one of the officials said. They suspected the move as a mere ploy to weaken the team that would possibly result into a defeat.
The suspicion arose from the inconsistency of the test results.
Sierra Leonean players were initially declared negative after the first test, but later proved to be positive in the second test when the game was about to commence. None of the players and the officials expected such a sad situation.
One of the officials saw the disqualification as a big lesson the country would learn. The problem, according to the authorities, was not about fixing COVID-19 problem, but it is about getting back the players in their right frame of mind.
“Football is a mental game, and the players must be psychologically fit for the game,” he claimed.
CREDIT: SWASAL