AFCON
Sierra Leone call up England-born striker for a ‘must-win’ Afcon qualifier with Benin
As Sierra Leone get set to host away from home, Benin Republic in the postponed and last qualifying match for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Conakry, Guinea, there will be a new face in the squad.
They have called up England-born Sullay Kaikai for the encounter in which they have a zero option.While a draw is sufficient for Benin Republic, Sierra Leone will need an outright win to make the cut among the 24 teams at the Africa’s premier sporting championship slated for Cameroon in January.
According to a BBC report, Sullay Kaikai said appearing consistently for Blackpool for the last two seasons has allowed him to commit to playing international football for Sierra Leone.
The 25-year-old former Crystal Palace player is now set for a debut for the Leone Stars this Monday.
Kaikai, who was born in London to Sierra Leonean parents, is set to leave Blackpool when his contract ends later this month after featuring overall 58 times in League One netting 11 goals since joining the club in 2019.
“I feel like the timing is right now,” Kaikai told BBC Sport Africa.
“Back when you interviewed me about five years ago I was undecided because I wasn’t a first team regular, I said I wanted to establish myself to become a first team regular and then try for the national team.
“So I feel like now I’m in the position to do that, I have been playing for solid two years now regularly as a starter so I feel like now is the right time.
“I’m at a good age, I have been looking forward to it, but it’s just about the timing. I feel like the timing is right now.”
He told BBC Sport Africa that he has already received offers from several clubs and he hopes to join a team before the start of the new season.
Kaikai has recovered from a hamstring injury that meant he missed the climax to Blackpool’s season which saw them promoted to the second-tier of English football via the play-offs with a win over Lincoln City at Wembley.
He explains that the Sierra Leone coach John Keister and the country’s football association have kept in touch with him about his availability for the Leone Stars.
“I have been in contact with the Leone Stars manager for the last year or so consistently,” he continued.
“And even before that to be fair like here and there I have been speaking with the national team but like I said it’s just about time, I feel now the time is right so I feel like that’s the main factor. That was what motivated me to come.”
He says he has been following Leone Stars closely and hopes he can help them qualify for the Nations Cup finals for the first time in 25 years.
“For about a good three to four years I have been following the national team,” he added..
“I have been following one of the pages that keeps me updated on the national team and players that are playing for the national team and how they’re doing in their respective countries where they’re playing their club football”
“I’m looking forward to making my international debut against Benin. It’ll be a dream come true to play for your country
“Qualifying for the Nations cup it’s something I hope and pray for. The more players that can come and play for the national team the better.
“You know we need to make the national team stronger so that we can start qualifying regularly for this kind of tournament.
“So I hope I can make an impact.”
However Kaikai, who is also eligible to play for England, is honest about his aspiration to play for the country of his birth when he was a youngster.
“Being born in England you know you have the dream of playing for England when you see them making the World Cup and the Euros, You want to play in those tournaments,” he admitted.
“So as a youngster that is one of the aims but as you grow up you kind of see where you are in your career and you have to be realistic, for me England is unrealistic now so I feel it is a good choice to play for my country.”
Leone Stars coach John Keister has also included another England-born player in his squad – 21-year-old Idris Kanu who plays for Peterborough United, who finished just above Blackpool to earn automatic promotion to the Championship.
“I’m happy to have Kaikai and Kanu in the squad,” the coach said.
“I’ve personally been trying to get Sullay now for a while because I felt he was a young boy with lots of potential. Obviously now he’s showing that and we wanted those potentials coming to the national team.
“What he brings is lots of competitions, a lot of enthusiasm. He gives us a better squad, a good bench, pace that we need, and also he gives us youth and something that’s very different going forward.”
“What we’re trying to do is we are building a very youthful side for the future. Idris Kanu too is a player with good potential.”
Keister also admitted that he and the SLFA are hoping to persuade more players to commit to Sierra Leone.
“We’re trying to talk to a few other players as well,” he said.
“I have said that the national team is in transition, I’m trying to do it, the experienced players have been there with us with patience going to through a final game.”
The African Football Confederation (CAF) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) have sealed a historic strategic partnership that grants Morocco’s national airline the status of “Official Global Partner” for upcoming major African football competitions.
The agreement was signed Saturday morning in Casablanca, in the presence of Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaâ.
This partnership encompasses several prestigious tournaments, including the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026) and CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (WAFCON) 2024 (July 5-26, 2025).
The agreement also covers CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF Champions League 2024/2025 Finals, CAF Confederation Cup 2024/2025 Finals, and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe voiced enthusiasm about the collaboration.
“We are excited about the partnership between CAF and Royal Air Maroc, a world-class airline that will provide comfort and fly NationalTeams participating in the CAF competitions,” he said.
“We are confident that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will be the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition.”
The agreement strengthens RAM’s footprint across Africa and globally, solidifying its role as a strategic gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. It also aligns with Morocco’s emergence as an international sports hub, with the country preparing to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030.
RAM’s Chairman and CEO Hamid Addou stated: “This historic partnership with CAF aligns fully with our strategic vision as an airline deeply rooted in Africa and committed to its development.”
“Royal Air Maroc doesn’t just connect destinations; it builds bridges between cultures and passions. By supporting the continent’s biggest football competitions, we reaffirm our role as a facilitator of human and sporting exchanges,” he continued.
500,000 supporters expected
Beyond its partnership role, RAM will implement an exceptional operational system to meet increased demand during CAF competitions. The airline plans to welcome over 500,000 supporters for AFCON 2025.
“We believe we will surpass this figure by far,” revealed Addou. “We will be ready to accommodate these supporters across Royal Air Maroc’s entire network.”
The airline intends to double seat capacity from qualified countries already served by RAM, such as Dakar, Abidjan, Cairo, Tunis, Bamako, Lagos, and Douala.
RAM will also intensify flight frequencies from European cities with large African communities, including Paris, Brussels, Milan, London, Marseille, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Additionally, the airline will establish a dedicated program for domestic air transport of national teams, shuttling them between their base camps and host cities.
This positioning establishes RAM as the primary connector between Africa and Europe through its Casablanca hub. FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaâ noted that the contract “reinforces Royal Air Maroc’s first-rate leadership role in Africa.”
“Royal Air Maroc is no stranger to football,” Lekjaâ added. “It has always supported generations of our athletes and footballers here in Morocco.”
“With this expertise and experience, they will contribute significantly to making AFCON 2025 Morocco exceptional, a historic turning point in African football, cultural coexistence and African cultural exchange,” he concluded.
Addou stressed RAM’s commitment to African unity: “We are all extremely proud to be African, and in every corner of this vast and magnificent continent, we share the same ambition—to actively contribute to Africa’s development and influence.”
The RAM CEO concluded by inviting everyone to upcoming CAF calendar events: “We’ll see you very soon for the great moments ahead in the CAF calendar, particularly the Women’s AFCON starting in July and, of course, the men’s AFCON, which kicks off on December 25.”
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The presidents of the regional councils concerned by the hosting of the matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025) unanimously affirmed that the implementation of infrastructure projects in anticipation of this continental event “is progressing at a sustained pace”, declaring themselves “fully mobilized” to crown with success the major sporting events scheduled in the Kingdom.
They specified, in statements to the press in Rabat following a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior devoted to the assessment of the progress of the construction and rehabilitation works of the stadiums, that major sports infrastructure projects are underway in the six host cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, Abdellatif Maâzouz, announced that the projects planned for upcoming international sporting events, in particular the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, “are proceeding under good conditions.”
The projects related to the organisation of the AFCON will be ready by next July at the latest, he assured, specifying that there is a clear vision regarding the preparations underway for the AFCON and the 2030 World Cup, both in terms of equipment and organisational arrangements related to human resources and animation.
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AFCON
‘Land of Football’ is ‘Kingdom of Light’ as Moroccan Tourism Office and Football Federation Strike Accord
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Morocco’s football federation and tourism office have signed a groundbreaking agreement to establish the country as a major football and tourism destination leading to the milestone 2030 World Cup when the global football tournament clocks a century.
The Moroccan football body and the Tourism Office are building on the national team’s recent international success.
Though with just one success in the Africa Cup of Nations, Moroccan football soars higher than the rest in Africa and the Arab world at the World Cup.
Apart from being the only African and Arab country to have reached the World Cup semi-final stage, Morocco in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico became the first African team not to be defeated in a World Cup match when they forced Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw on 11 June.
Again, in Mexico, this time at the 1986 World Cup, Morocco became the first African team to top a group and cross the group stage.
They were just two minutes away from a major upset of West Germany in the round of 16 before Lothar Matthäus’ back-breaking goal.
The success of the football team and the tourism potential of Morocco have found a harmonious chord.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the National Moroccan Tourism Office (ONMT) will work together under the banner “Morocco, Land of Football,” placing the sport at the heart of the country’s tourism strategy.
“More than an institutional partnership, this convention is a shared vision: that of a Morocco that shines through football and makes it a lever for promotion, pride and tourist attractiveness,” ONMT said in a statement released after the signing.
The timing of this collaboration is strategic, coming ahead of two major sporting events: the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
The initiative builds on widespread public enthusiasm following the Atlas Lions’ historic World Cup performance in 2022.
Under the agreement, both organizations will implement an integrated communication strategy combining visibility campaigns, influence marketing, and joint promotional activities.
The initiative will mobilize iconic figures from Moroccan football to bring this vision to life, to showcase the country’s world-class sporting facilities, rich cultural heritage, and diverse tourist attractions.
ONMT has launched a major offensive at making Morocco, the ultimate tourism and business destination as the clock ticks down to the 35th Africa Cup of Nations holding in December.
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