SLFA President Babadi Kamara has urged the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to relax its existing 200-kilometre airport-to-venue distance rule, arguing that the regulation is limiting the use of the Southern Arena in Bo for Leone Stars to host their international matches.

The SLFA boss made the appeal during the 𝐂𝐀𝐅 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐒𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐨 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞, from Wednesday to Friday, where he called on football authorities to consider the different economic realities, infrastructure and security conditions across African countries when making regulations.

“Laws are not always universal because no two nations are the same, neither in size, economy nor people. So, when we make laws, we should take those issues into cognisance,” he said.

Using Sierra Leone as an example, President Babadi Kamara mentioned the Southern Arena’s capacity to host CAF national team matches, noting that the 6000-capacity stadium in Bo meets the necessary requirements but is restricted by the 200-kilometre airport distance rule.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐅𝐂𝐎𝐍 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬,” he continued.

According to the SLFA President, the Southern Arena has hosted four CAF Champions League matches involving teams from Algeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal, as well as three CAF Confederation Cup matches. The venue has also hosted WAFU competitions for two consecutive seasons and an international friendly between Sierra Leone and Liberia.

President Babadi noted that these matches were conducted without any security incidents, demonstrating the stadium’s capacity to host international fixtures safely.

“𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬,” he stressed.

The SLFA President said that enforcing the 200-kilometre rule without considering individual country circumstances could deprive football fans of the opportunity to watch their national teams at home.

“𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.”

He called on CAF to prioritise security guarantees over distance alone when assessing venues for international competitions, arguing that countries with adequate security arrangements should be allowed greater flexibility.

The SLFA President, therefore, appealed to CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe and other football authorities to review the regulation and allow exceptions for venues located more than 200 kilometres from an international airport, provided that the security of visiting teams is guaranteed.