/ 11 April 1999

SIERRA LEONE OUT OF NATIONS

SIERRA Leone have been disqualified from the 2000 African Nations Cup qualifying competition on Friday after failing to fulfil fixtures against Togo and Guinea this year. The West African state has been dogged by civil war for several years and football authorities in Freetown could not guarantee the security of visiting teams and match officials. Morocco, Togo and Guinea remain in Group 2 with the winners and runners-up qualifying for the finals, to be co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria from January 23 to February 13. Sierra Leone were also disqualified from the 1998 Nations Cup qualifiers because of civil unrest.