Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has withdrawn from the African Qualifiers of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, India 2022.
Sierra Leone was scheduled to face Senegal in the first qualifying round in January 2022.
The double header between Sierra Leone and Senegal is therefore canceled and Senegal is automatically qualified for the next round.
Sierra Leone joins South Sudan and Mauritania previously who had initially announced their withdrawal which resulted in the qualification of Eritrea and Benin.
The first round will feature Equatorial Guinea vs Kenya and DR Congo vs Rwanda.
Nineteen (19) teams were exempted notably Niger, Namibia, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Morocco, Nigeria, Sao Tome E. Principe, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Guinea-Bissau.
Sierra Leone over the years have been struggling with proper female football administration in the country. The withdrawal of Sierra Leone from the U-17competition did not come as a Surprise to many. The Football Association and the government of Sierra Leone are currently channeling their supports towards Leone Stars in the ongoing Africa Cup of nations competition in Cameroon.