African Football Confederation disqualifies Sierra Leone from 2008 competitions

     LAGOS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The African Football Confederation (CAF) has disqualified Sierra Leone from participating in the 2008 Champions League and Confederation's Cup competitions for failing to meet the deadline for the two events, local media reported Tuesday.

    In a CAF letter to the Sierra Leonean Football Association (SLFA), the continental body said it did not receive any entry from the association in spite of a warning that Nov. 30 was deadline for entries.

    SLFA sources said its head of league competitions, Abu Bakarr Kabba, had two months ago sent a letter of intent to CAF informing it about Sierra Leone's interest to participate in the 2008 competitions.

    Kabba said he found it strange to learn that CAF insisted it never received any correspondence to the effect.

    A sports enthusiast Mbili Mkanbhu blamed SLFA for the disqualification and said Sierra Leone had not organized any competition and therefore could not send names of teams which did not participate in any competition to the CAF.

    The disqualification has dampened the enthusiasm of football stakeholders and the general public which squarely rest the blame on the SLFA executive for not organizing a proper league.

African Football Confederation disqualifies Sierra Leone from 2008 competitions_English_Xinhua