By John Kwesi Arthur
Football writer kick442.com Ghana
Confederation of African Football has ordered Namungo FC and Primeiro de Agosto to play their two-legged CAF Confederation Cup fixtures in Tanzania.
The Tanzanian champion travelled to Angola to play their first leg but the game which was scheduled for Sunday February 14 was cancelled CAF after the Angolan Authorities ordered all Namungo FC players to be self- quarantined due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In view of the cancelling, CAF stated that they will issue a directive on the match, and according to a statement from Tanzania Football Federation, CAF has now ordered both matches to be played in Tanzania.
“CAF has ruled that the two-legged fixture between Namungo and Primeiro de Agosto to be played in Tanzania,” the statement from Tanzanian Football Federation.
“The decision has been reached after the CAF committee discovered neither Namungo nor Primeiro de Agosto was responsible in stopping the kick-off of the first leg which was postponed and was set for February 14.”
“All the two matches must be played in the next 72 hours, and must also be played before February 26 and according to the new roster, Primeiro de Agosto will be the home team for the first leg and they will cater for all the preparations for the match, including paying the match officials.”
Report also has it that after the game was cancelled, Namungo’s efforts to return home was also thwarted by Angolan authorities forcing the team to spend the whole of Sunday at the airport in Angola and they were later ordered to return to the hotel with reports emerging three of their players and one official had tested positive for Covid-19.
Angolan authorities finally allowed the team to travel on Monday night and landed safely in Tanzania but without three players and one official, who were detained to undergo mandatory self-quarantine.
The chairman of Namungo, Hassan Zidadu confirmed it to Goal.com that three of their players and one official did not travel with them to Tanzania.
“We are not happy because we simply suffered in Angola without committing any crime,” Zidadu told Goal on touching down at Julius Nyerere International Airport.
“We have suffered without any reason, we did not deserve what we went through in Luanda, we suffered and they (Angolan authorities) never gave us a good reason as to why we had to go through all those problems.
“Inside our hearts, we suffered a lot but we could do nothing, but I want to thank everyone in Tanzania for the prayers you accorded the team, we have arrived safely but three of our players and one official have remained behind to complete the mandatory Covid-19 regulations.”
Copyright©2021 kick442.com
All rights reserved. This material and any other digital content on this platform may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from our management.
This site is not responsible for the content displayed by external sites
