Sheriff Awilo Suma (born 12 October 1986) is a Sierra Leonean professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who plays as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Atlanta SC and the

Sierra Leone national football team The Sierra Leone national football team represents Sierra Leone in men's international association football and it is governed by the Sierra Leone Football Association. The team's nickname is Leone Stars. The team is affiliated to the West Afr ...

. He was a member of Sierra Leone U-17 team at the

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland between 13 and 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could particip ...

in Finland. Suma made his senior international debut for Sierra Leone on 3 September 2006 in a

2008 African Nations Cup The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confederat ...

qualifying match against

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

Freetown Freetown is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educ ...

. Suma is one of the most popular Sierra Leonean footballers and he is known for frequently changing his unusual and colourful hairstyles.

Football career

Suma was born in

, Sierra Leone. Like many African footballers, Suma grew up playing street football in his neighbourhood. He fled his country's

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

and moved to

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

in 1997. Suma was widely considered the best Sierra Leonean youth footballer while in The Gambia. In 2001, the young Suma was discovered by Sierra Leonean football agent Chernor Musa Jalloh while playing in a local football league in

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, Gambia. Jalloh introduced Suma to

Mohamed Kallon Mohamed Kallon MOR (born 6 October 1979) is a Sierra Leonean football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is widely considered the most famous footballer from Sierra Leone. He made 39 appearances for the Sierra Leone national ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

's most successful footballer. Kallon asked him if he would like to play for Kallon F.C. in the

Sierra Leone National Premier League Sierra Leone National Premier League is a professional football league in Sierra Leone. It was founded in 1967. The league is sponsored by the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, one of the major Sierra Leonean banks. East End Lions and Mighty Blackpoo ...

. Suma returned to Sierra Leone for the first time in five years in 2002 and sign for top

club FC Kallon, which is owned by Mohamed Kallon himself. In his first season in the Sierra Leonean Premier League, Suma was the second top goal-scorer. After playing in the qualifying rounds, Suma was omitted from the final squad for the

2003 African U-17 Championship The 2003 African U-17 Championship was a football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament took place in Swaziland. The top three teams qualified for the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship. Qualificatio ...

in Swaziland, something he describes as the worst moment of his life. In the championship, Sierra Leone placed second, behind Cameroon, thereby qualifying for the

in Finland. Fortunately for Suma, he was called back to the squad for the U-17 world championship in Finland. While the team failed to advance past the group stage of the tournament, the coach commended Suma for his energy and flair with the ball. Following this event, 12 of the 23 players failed to return to Sierra Leone and some later applied for

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

. Among those who ''did'' return home was Suma. Shortly after the U-17 world championship, talent scout Chernor Musa Jalloh helped Suma move to the Swedish team

Åtvidaberg Åtvidaberg is a locality and the seat of Åtvidaberg Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,859 inhabitants in 2010. History Copper was mined in the area from the 14th century, and the name "Åtvidaberg" was originally the name o ...

on a two-year contract from Kallon F.C.. In December 2006, Suma was traded to

GAIS , neighboring_municipalities= Altstätten (SG), Appenzell (AI), Bühler (AR), Eichberg (SG), Rüte (AI), Schlatt-Haslen (AI), Trogen (AR) , twintowns= } Gais () is a village and a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in ...

, one of Sweden's oldest teams. Suma was loaned to

FK Haugesund Fotballklubben Haugesund (English: ''Football Club Haugesund''), usually referred to as FK Haugesund or FKH, is a professional Norwegian football club from the city of Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway. The club currently plays in the Norwegian Elites ...

in the summer of 2008 for the rest of the season. In December 2012 Suma was released from his contract with

Ravan Baku Ravan Baku FK ( az, Rəvan Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football club, based in Baku, that plays in the Azerbaijan First Division. History The club was founded in 2009. In May 2011, team secured their promotion to Azerbaijan Premier League af ...

. In June 2014 Suma joined Syrianska Kerburan with fellow Sierra Leone International Samuel Barlay, signing a new one-year contract with Syrianska Kerburan in December 2014. In July 2015, Suma's proposed move to

Kvik Halden FK Kvik Halden FK is a Norwegian football club, founded on 19 June 1906. The club plays in the 2. divisjon after their promotion from the 2018 3. divisjon. In 2010 they contested a playoff to win promotion, and succeeded by beating Eik-Tønsberg ...

fell through, before later in the same month he re-signed for

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

side

Ravan Baku FK Ravan Baku FK ( az, Rəvan Futbol Klubu) is an Azerbaijani football (soccer), football club, based in Baku, that plays in the Azerbaijan First Division. History The club was founded in 2009. In May 2011, team secured their promotion to Azerbaijan ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile at goal.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suma, Sheriff 1986 births Living people Susu people Sportspeople from Freetown Association football midfielders Sierra Leonean footballers GAIS players Åtvidabergs FF players FK Haugesund players Ermis Aradippou FC players Kocaelispor footballers Jönköpings Södra IF players Syrianska IF Kerburan players Ravan Baku FC players Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Sierra Leonean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Gambia Sierra Leonean Muslims Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in Norway Sierra Leone international footballers Sierra Leonean people of Guinean descent Allsvenskan players Superettan players Norwegian First Division players Cypriot First Division players TFF First League players Azerbaijan Premier League players Atlanta Silverbacks players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Sierra Leonean expatriate sportspeople in the United States National Premier Soccer League players National Independent Soccer Association players