The match between Sierra Leone and Benin, scheduled for Monday, June 14 and counting for qualifying for the 2022 African Cup of Nations (CAN), has been postponed until Tuesday after another last-minute rebound linked to Covid tests. 19. The match will be played Tuesday at 4 p.m. GMT, the Beninese federation announced in the evening.
Initially scheduled for March and already postponed following a similar imbroglio, this decisive meeting between the second and the third of the group L of the qualifications for CAN 2022 was to be disputed Monday behind closed doors in Conakry, Guinea.
But the start of the match was initially delayed when, again to great confusion, six players from Sierra Leone and two members of the staff tested positive for the coronavirus shortly before kick-off, said officials said. members of the team approached by an AFP correspondent.
Dark circumstances
The match commissioner, Ghanaian Munkaila Nassam Adam, in consultation and in agreement with the African Football Confederation (CAF), then announced the postponement of the match. New anti-Covid tests are scheduled for Monday evening with a new medical team and a new laboratory. The result of these tests is expected Tuesday before noon.
In March in Sierra Leone, the match had not taken place after the announcement, at the last moment and under unclear circumstances, of five positive cases among the “Squirrels” from Benin. The Beninese had contested and argued a negative test for all before their trip.
The Sierra Leonean Federation had accused the Benin team of refusing to play. The African Football Confederation (CAF) had finally rescheduled the match in June. Sierra Leone needs a victory to qualify, otherwise Benin will go to CAN 2022.