Sierra Leone striker, Mohamed Buya Turay, who plays for Djurgården in Sweden has claimed the leg injury that forced him to miss the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying defeat by Benin last Sunday was caused by “juju” (black magic).
The 24-year-old who helped his club side, Djurgården, win the Swedish league this month and finished as the division’s top scorer, missed out against Benin after sustaining the injury during their 1-1 home draw to Lesotho four days earlier.
Speaking with BBC Sport in a recent interview, Buya said: “I’ve almost fully recovered from my injury.
“I had no toe injury when I played against Lesotho because no one stepped on me or kicked me.
“But I started feeling pain on my toe when I returned to the hotel where the team were camped the following day.”
“I informed the team’s physiotherapist who couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and the pain got heavier when we were on the bus heading for the training ground.
“The pain got worsened when we arrived at the training ground, it extended to the whole foot and leg and I then decided to call some of my family members who took me to a woman native doctor.
“The native doctor told me that the cause of toe injury was because I stepped on a spiritual object in Leone Stars camp, put there for me by a person who wanted me to get elephantiasis thereby destroying my career.
“She further told me that if I had gone to the hospital for treatment or had used conventional medicine to try and heal the toe that would have ended my career.”
In a social media post, Buyi alleged that the perpetrator was motivated by jealousy at his Golden Boot victory. “That’s what created the tension, hatred, and jealousy,” he wrote on Facebook. “I love my country, but how can y’all conieve to make my life miserable? Is it a crime for me to put my countries flag on the map?”
“I believe all what I have been told, I have heard before about things like these happening in the Leone Stars camp. Now I have seen it for my self,” he continued.
“I don’t want to reveal the identity of the person now but I promise to fight back, he’ll not go scot free.”
