Cabinda is an exclave province of the country of Angola, located just a few kilometers north of the rest of the country, separated by a small strip of land that gives the Democratic Republic of Congo access to sea.
How this geographical anomaly came to be has a complex history, but what is simple is that because it's part of a country that is fanatic about soccer it also has a club: Sporting Cabinda.
Geography was, is, and probably always will be a problem in such a global sport. Sporting Cabinda has had issues with its' location since it was founded in 1950, but in recent years it has been a major weight on the club because as the sport develops and expands so do the costs.
These issues have become more prominent starting 2015 when Sporting lost a match by forfeit and fined 75 thousand kwanzas ($53 USD in todays conversion) for not showing up to a match against Progesso. Incidents like this have repeated themselves with frequency, especially post-covid, until the team was forcefully relegated to the second division in 2024.
To make matters worse, in June of 2025 the sitting president stepped down claiming he had been paying for the clubs traveling and lodging expenses out of his own pocket and was no longer able to help.
Sporting Cabinda is a historic club with plenty fans, but unfortunately being geographically isolated in a developing country such as Angola can be fatal.