• Former Middlesbrough striker had work permit turned down • Sierra Leone have been banned from playing home matches

The Sierra Leone striker Kei Kamara believes the Ebola outbreak in his homeland jettisoned his chance of signing for Wolves. Kamara, who spent last season at Middlesbrough, joined MLS side Columbus Crew last week despite a successful trial with Kenny Jackett’s Championship side.

The Wolves manager was ready to offer the 30-year-old a short-term deal but the club were unable to secure a work permit for Kamara after Sierra Leone’s ranking dropped outside Fifa’s top 70 nations – a Home Office requirement for all non-European Union players.

Having risen to a high of 50th in August, the Confederation of African Football ruled that The Leone Stars must play all of their home matches elsewhere due to the Ebola outbreak.

“A few weeks ago I was at Wolverhampton who offered me a contract to play for them and I said yes, but the next minute I found out that my work permit was turned down because of my country Sierra Leone dropping in the Fifa rankings,” Kamara said.

“It all came because of the disaster out there at the minute with Ebola. We are not able to play games in Sierra Leone and we play every game away. We lost the last couple of games and dropped in the Fifa rankings so my permit got turned down.

“They were all some of the factors but I knew there was a place that I called home, there’s a place I can always prove myself.

“[MLS] is one of the best leagues I’ve played in. I’ve played in the Championship and the Premier League and the MLS really isn’t that far away.”

Kamara will not be eligible to play for Columbus Crew until January 2015 after the club missed the deadline to register new players.