Freetown, Sierra Leone – The Football of International Football Association (FIFA) has mandated host Sierra Leone to write a letter guaranteeing the safety of the Liberian national football team players and fans before the return leg can go ahead later this evening.
FIFA’s mandate is as a result of attack on the Liberian players on Saturday during their training section causing the team not to train on the match venue.
On Saturday, the team was physically attacked by angry Sierra Leonean fans and this has created serious fear for the lives of the away team and their fans.
After the incident, the Liberia Football Association wrote FIFA complaining their Sierra Leonean counterpart for show of un-sportsmanship behavior.
In response to Liberia’s complain, FIFA said if Sierra Leoneans cannot guarantee the protection of Liberia football team and its traveling fans and Liberians that are residing in Freetown before and after, the game will not be played.
Liberia has a 3-1 lead going into the match that is expected to kickoff at 4:30PM today, Sunday, September 8. However, the game will only take place after the Sierra Leonean side has written the commitment.
Following Saturday’s bad incident, the Sierra Leonean FA put out a press release in which “it equivocally dissociates itself from any form of violence or intimidation in football.”
“The President and Executive of the SLFA have visited the National Team at their premise to give assurances of their safety and would like to use this platform to apologize to the Liberian Football Association and the People of Liberia for any anxiety and safety concerns today’s incident may have caused.” Meanwhile, players of the national team are have switched their focus on the match if will go ahead today and have promised nothing less than qualification.
