Following the shutdown of the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown for renovations, Sierra Leone would be forced to play their home matches at neutral locations for the next two years.
Last Friday, the stadium was handed over to a Chinese construction company, a move that will have an impact on the West African country's Premier League.
The renovation work, which is expected to cost $40 million, will be sponsored entirely by the Chinese government and is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
The 25,000-seat stadium, which opened in 1979, is the sole facility in the country where the Leone Stars play international matches.
Sierra Leone will have to relocate their three home games in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers between June and September this year to a neutral venue as a result of the shutdown.
The Leone Stars will also need to play some of their 2025 Nations Cup and 2026 World Cup qualifiers outside from Sierra Leone.
"We know it's to our disadvantage to play our home matches away from home," Sierra Leone FA (SLFA) president Thomas Daddy Brima told BBC Sport Africa.
"However, it is encouraging that the stadium is now being refurbished. Things is preferable to accomplish it now than than later."
Sierra Leone competed in the Nations Cup in Cameroon this year, qualifying for the continental championship for the first time since 1996.
As they aim for back-to-back tournaments, SLFA director of competitions Sorie Ibrahim Sesay expects that construction on the Siaka Stevens Stadium will be completed sooner than expected.
"We appreciate that the stadium is being renovated, but the two-year term is excessive," Sesay remarked.
"Because playing our home matches outside our country provides us no home advantage, we're urging the administration to attempt to shorten the recuperation period as much as feasible."
The SLFA has begun its hunt for a venue to host the 2023 Nations Cup home qualifiers, with Conakry among the potential locations.
The Guinean city has already hosted three Leone Stars matches: two in 1994 Nations Cup qualifiers against Senegal and Togo, and the final encounter against Benin last June, which guaranteed a berth in Cameroon.
The Sierra Leone Ebola epidemic, which began in 2014, also caused the Leone Stars to play qualifying matches for the 2015 and 2017 Nations Cups outside of the nation.
The stadium's shutdown also means that more Sierra Leonean Premier League matches will be played in the provinces, which SLFA president Brima says is his immediate issue.
"The majority of the teams in the league are situated in Freetown and play the majority of their matches at the stadium that has now been turned over for reconstruction," Brima explained.
"Teams will be forced to relocate their games elsewhere in the country, necessitating the expenditure of additional funds. I am convinced that the government will assist us financially."
East End Lions, Kallon FC, RSLAF, and FC Johansen have relocated their remaining home games to Makeni, while East End Tigers will play their games at Magburaka. Both locations are roughly 200 kilometers east of Freetown.
The Siaka Stevens Stadium will be renovated for the second time since it was built by the Chinese and opened in April 1979.
