The Black Stars, yesterday, began preparing for their AFCON 2019 qualifier against Sierra Leone at the Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi.
Reports from the Garden City of Kumasi suggest that a fraction of the team arrived early to train ahead of the Thursday clash regardless of uncertainty around the fixture due to Sierra Leone’s suspension by FIFA.
So far, skipper Asamoah Gyan, Felix Annan, Afriyie Acquah, Christian Atsu, Bernard Mensah and Nicholas Opoku have reported with the rest expected to join the squad soon.
FIFA has suspended Sierra Leone for government interference after the central government of the country through the Anti-Corruption Commission asked Sierra Leone FA boss, Isha Johansen and General Secretary, Chris Kamara, to step aside for investigations into alleged corruption.
Coach Appiah’s men are hoping for a win after losing 0-1 to their Kenyan counterparts in Nairobi last September.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) is writing to the Normalisation Committee of Ghana to seek a postponement in the date of the match after a crisis meeting at the state house in Freetown.
The SLFA is hoping the match slated for this Thursday, 11th October 2018, could be postponed to a day after October 12 and the 2nd leg also to October 16, instead of 15.
SLFA Director of Competitions, Ibrahim Sorie, said “We are writing to the Normalisation Committee of Ghana to agree so the match will be postponed to the 12th of October and vice versa for the second leg on the 16th instead of the 15th.
The letter was sent to Alex.
“We are waiting to hear from CAF also because we have written to them on the request for the postponement.
“We are hopeful the match is coming on because Isha and Chris have all communicated to FIFA they are staying back to allow football run in the country.”
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum