Guinea midfielder dropped from AFCON squad after accusing coach of theft

FOOTBALL Guinea midfielder dropped from AFCON squad after accusing coach of theft

Mark Kinyanjui 13:00 - 28.12.2023

Sylla has been excluded after accusing manager of stealing his Vinicius Jr shirt.

Guinea have dropped Morlaye Sylla from their squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations after falling out with the manager over a shirt he swapped with Vinicius Junior. 

The Arouca midfielder has failed to make the squad after reportedly getting into an argument with team-mates and the manager after their 4-1 loss to Brazil in June. 

Following the defeat, the 25-year-old swapped shirts with Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr before the shirt mysteriously vanished in the dressing room. 

An aggrieved Sylla started to point fingers at team-mates before accusing manager Kaba Diawara of theft. 

He is then said to have insisted on undergoing a thorough search of the whole dressing room, intensifying tensions further. 

Follow our Pulse Sports WhatsApp channel for more updates

Sylla is yet to apologise and has paid the high price of missing the highly-anticipated tournament despite being capped 23 times. 

A midfielder that will be involved for Guinea will be captain and former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita. 

The 28-year-old, who joined Werder Bremen last summer, has missed a number of games through injuries through injuries but is fit once again and will be on the plane to Ivory Coast in the coming week. 

Guinea will kick-off their campaign when they take on Cameroon on January 15 before facing Gambia and reigning champions Senegal.