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Crew forward Kei Kamara steps away from Sierra Leone national team

Andrew Weber / Reuters

Columbus Crew forward Kei Kamara announced he's stepping away from the Sierra Leone national team indefinitely.

Kamara made the announcement via social media and revealed his reasoning behind the decision to BBC Sport:

"I have taken myself out of the national team for now because we are not respected and treated fairly by the Sierra Leone FA," Kamara said. "I'll now spend time with my daughter and I'll decide if our last match with Ivory Coast was my last game for Sierra Leone."

The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has been accused in the past of internal fighting and not paying bonuses to players, which it denied.

"It's not true that we are not respecting our players and we are treating them unfairly," SLFA vice president Brima Mazola Kamara said. "Yes, there have been some delays in terms of paying bonuses on time but we pay them at the end.

"We can cope without him but it would have been an advantage for us if he's in the team because he's doing well at the moment."

Kamara says those claims contradict what he has seen over the course of the past year.

"I have taken the decision for over a year now but I was just giving the new federation a chance to see if something will change," he explained. "The internal fighting within the SLFA is not helping because when they fight we suffer.

"It's like a war when it's going on. The innocent people will always be victims and when you have a chance to escape the trouble you make your way out. I have hope and pray for a change for years but am left with stepping away."

Kamara, 31, has had a blistering year in Major League Soccer, scoring 22 goals and leading the Golden Boot race.

Related: MLS MVP race: Giovinco, Kamara the front-runners as season winds down

While Kamara's decision is based on feelings of poor treatment, he didn't rule out a return if things change. He wrote that he wishes to one day represent his country again, keeping the door ajar for the future.

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