Saturday, 21 September, 2002, 13:16 GMT 14:16 UK
Teams still stranded in Ivory Coast
By Mohammed Fajah Barrie
in Bouake


BBC Sport Online reporter Fajah Barrie is inside the Bouake hotel where
the Senegal, Sierra Leone and Gambian teams are trapped.

It could be another three days before the footballers trapped in a hotel
in the beseiged Ivorian city of Bouake can go home.


The teams - Senegal, Sierra Leone and Gambia - were in the town to
compete in the Wafu Nations Cup, when military mutineers took control on
Thursday.

The teams were confined to their hotel and have not be allowed to leave
for their own safety.

But the situation is worsening inside the hotel for the players and
officials, with food and water now running critically low.

The teams have also raised concerns about their safety as the mutineers
have been entering the hotel as they like.

Staff have been allowed to go home after their shifts but hotel
officials are insisting the visiting footballers remain.

The Sierra Leone coach Sam Obi Metzger told BBC Sport Online that they
were worried about the situation and want the Ivorian and Wafu
authorites to help them return home as quickly as possible.

"My boys have lost concentration, all their focus now is to return back
home safely," said Obi Metzger.

The coach of the Senegalese team, Mayacine Mar, has also expressed
similar sentiments.

He told BBC Sport Online that his main priority was to return home.

Sang Ndong, the coach of the Gambina team, told BBC Sport Online that he
was not happy about the cancellation of the Wafu Cup as he was looking
forward to the competition.

"I was looking forward to it because I hoped it would have improved the
standard of my team, but now that it has been cancelled we have to
accept that.


"I think our priority now is for the authorities to help us get out of
this situation as things are getting very difficult for us.

"We are now experiencing food shortages in the hotel and we also fear
for our safety."

The West African Football Union, Wafu, said they were working out plans
to get the teams to Abidjan, the Ivorian capital.

The Secretary General of Wafu Ake Malam told BBC Sport Online that they
are in constant touch with the government authorities in Abidjan and
were trying to exploit opportunities to take the team to the capital.

"The government has promised to take the teams to Abidjan as soon as
they gain control of Bouake, " said Malam.

But it is unlikely that there will be any change in the current
situation for at least two or three days.

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