Mercury International betting firms have so far limited betting on Sierra Leone’s national side, the Leone Stars, ahead of the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon on Sunday, January 9.
The firm does not accept bets on Leone Stars matches, however, bets may be put on other AFCON games that do not include the Leone Stars.
The board made this choice to safeguard and honour the national team, according to a press release issued on Friday, January 7.
Management has determined that this is the appropriate course of action to shield the players from unwarranted reactions and pressure.
According to the press announcement, the AFCON games involving the Leone Stars will be available on the www.mercurybet.com website, which is operated by foreign agents, and the removal of Leone Stars games from the site will cause the team to be removed from thousands of other betting platforms run by other non-affiliated international companies.
However, notes that bets cannot be placed on these matches and an attempt will result in the following error message being displayed: “BETSLIP AUTHORIZATION APOLOGIES. THIS EVENT IS UNAVAILABLE TO MERCURY BET PLAYERS!!”