BENIN refused to play a key Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Sierra Leone on Tuesday after challenging positive COVID-19 tests for five of their players.

A dramatic final day of qualifying for the 2021 tournament in Cameroon also saw a referee collapse, leading to a match between Cote d’Ivoire and Ethiopia being abandoned 10 minutes from time. Ghanaian referee Charles Bulu collapsed 80 minutes into the match and was removed on a stretcher and taken to hospital. His condition was not immediately known.

There were five qualifying places up for grabs and Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania took four with Benin or Sierra Leone set to join them.

Rows over COVID-19 tests have plagued African soccer since last year with host national teams and clubs accused of producing false positive results to deprive opponents of stars.

Talks between Sierra Leone, Benin and Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials in Freetown failed to resolve the standoff as both squads remained in their hotels.

Benin hold a three-point lead over Sierra Leone in Group L and both teams have a chance of finishing runner-up to Nigeria.

(SD-Agencies)