By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)

The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test conducted by the African football body has found out that three players were ineligible to play in the U-17 tournament.

The scan showed that three of the Sierra Leonean players are over the age of 17 and that amounts to a fraud.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has banned Sierra Leone from participating in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers in Senegal this October.

Sierra Leone will now join Guinea and Guinea-Bissau of the number of teams that will not be participating in this year’s edition of the competition.

“The MRI tests discovered that three teams had exceeded the number of ineligible players.”

This is according to the West African Football Union (WAFU) Competition Department.

The WAFU A category will now continue with five teams including the host Senegal, Gambia, Liberia, Mali and Mauritania in a single pool.

“The revised tournament schedule will be made public as soon as possible, and the competition kicks off on Monday October 21, 2024,” WAFU said.

Fans and soccer pundits have been reacting to the news with some citing that the SLFA spent millions of Leones for MRI tests in Sierra Leone before leaving for Senegal.

“This is very disgraceful for the country and a complete waste of resources, “said Musa Brima Bio, a local football fan.

The update is a huge setback for youth football in the West African nation after their stellar performance in the just-concluded U-20 competition in Monrovia, Liberia.

After brining shame and disgrace to the country, the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) claims to have “launched an official appeal, requesting the names and results of the players identified as having failed the MRI test.”