A similar shade of the controversy over an alleged positive coronavirus test result for Everton of England star, Alex Iwobi recurred during the final Africa Cup of Nation qualifier between Sierra Leone and Benin Republic, megasportsarena.com reports.
It was almost a repeat of the fishy situation in which Iwobi, who passed COVID-19 tests at his base in England and on departure at the Lagos waterways jetty before the Eagles sailed into Cotonou was declared positive by Beninese health officials, which Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr described as ‘fake.’
That development meant Iwobi missed Nigeria’s 1-0 win on Saturday and the former Arsenal of England midfielder was bound to also sit out Tuesday’s last game versus Lesotho, until a late updated test in Lagos cleared him for the game at Teslim Balogun Stadium.
The 24-year-old dazzler then went straight into the Eagles’ starting line-up for Tuesday’s match, which the hosts won 3-0, with the media unit of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) revealing excitedly via their verified Twitter handle that Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) cleared the lad to feature in the Group L final game.
Iwobi’s case was then vindicated by repots out of Freetown later in the day, as what should have been Tuesday’s simultaneous kick-off between Sierra Leone and Benin Republic was postponed after the visitors refused to accept the results of COVID-19 tests presented by the hosts.
A report by goal.com added: Despite arriving at the National Stadium in Freetown for their final Group L game, the Benin team refused to leave their bus after being told within an hour before kick-off that six players—including star striker Steve Mounie—would be prevented from playing after tests showed they have tested positive for coronavirus.
Benin, who claim to have taken tests 72 hours earlier which produced negative results for all of the squad, did not accept the results produced by Sierra Leone and duly refused to contest the match without a full complement of players.
Benin full back, full-back Emmanuel Imorou tweeted: “We arrived at the stadium in Sierra Leone to learn that—bizarrely—five starters have Covid. What a comedy sketch. We did our own tests 72 hours before the match. After the time of the trip, we were tested again in Sierra Leone, and five positive results…the captain, and players from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.”
Footage shared by the defender shows local police and civilians surrounding the team bus, with sources close to the team telling Goal that the authorities were seeking to remove the players who had tested positive from the bus.
The players were eventually allowed to leave the bus and return to their hotel after four and a half hours of waiting.
“What is currently happening is a disgrace for African football,” the Benin Football Federation wrote on their official Twitter handle. “We hope that the Confederation of African Football will take its responsibilities and—especially—take measures following these decisions.”
After a long postponement, during which, footage emerged showing Benin’s squad remaining in their team bus in the car park at the National Stadium, the match was eventually called off (but) the decision throws into doubt the identity of the 24th qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled for Cameroon in early 2022.
Benin, who headed into the match second in Group L behind Nigeria, would have advanced if they avoided defeat (while) victory for Sierra Leone would have almost certainly have been enough to take them through to the tournament either due to a superior head-to-head record or goal difference.
