AFCON 2023: Guinea midfielder dropped after accusing head coach of stealing shirt swapped with Vinicius Jr
Morlaye Sylla, a midfielder based in Portugal, was dropped out of Guinea’s team for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations following a disagreement with head coach Kaba Diawara over a shirt he traded with Brazil’s Vinicius Junior.
Guinea will begin their campaign on January 15 against Cameroon before facing Gambia and reigning champions Senegal.
The Syli National will be without Sylla who has failed to make the squad after reportedly getting into an argument with team-mates and the coach after their 4-1 loss to Brazil in a friendly game in June
Following the defeat, the 25-year-old swapped shirts with Vinicius Jr before the shirt mysteriously vanished in the dressing room.
An aggrieved Sylla started to point fingers at team-mates before accusing manager Diawara of theft.
He is then said to have insisted on undergoing a thorough search of the whole dressing room, intensifying tensions further.
Sylla has now paid the high price of missing the highly-anticipated tournament despite being capped 23 times.
Guinea’s best outing at the AFCON was at the 1976 edition in Ethiopia where they finished second
