Advertisement

How the ebola crisis is impacting on football in Sierra Leone

"The last couple of months, as you can imagine, have been very different to what we've normally b...
Newstalk
Newstalk

21.40 15 Oct 2014


Share this article


How the ebola crisis is impact...

How the ebola crisis is impacting on football in Sierra Leone

Newstalk
Newstalk

21.40 15 Oct 2014


Share this article


"The last couple of months, as you can imagine, have been very different to what we've normally been experiencing in Sierra Leone."

Johnny McKinstry is still living in Sierra Leone, managing the Craig Bellamy Foundation academy, despite being dismissed as the country's manager last month.

The Northern Irishman has witnessed the disruption and toll the ebola crisis has been taking in the small West African nation, something the national team has not been immune from.

Advertisement

Tonight, he joined us on the line from Sierra Leone to tell us about the many issues the national team have had to contend with in the midst of the major health crisis affecting the country's population.

The first problem is that the country can no longer host games, but McKinstry says finding neutral venues to host games proved difficult.

"Associations didn't want to be seen to be saying 'no' but at the same time they didn't want to be committal which was obviously difficult for us," said McKinstry, who also spoke about the way worries about ebola began to build as far back as Spring in rural parts of the country and how people are coping with the crisis day-to-day.

McKinstry also told us about the work former Wales striker Bellamy has done in Sierra Leone in terms of building and maintaining his academy.

He also spoke about how he helped progress the national team into the Top 50 of the FIFA rankings and his disappointment at being dismissed as manager. 


Share this article


Read more about

Sport

Most Popular