Cameroon, Morocco to host African club finals

JOHANNESBURG: Cameroon and Morocco will host the finals of the CAF club competitions in May after the scrapping of the traditional two-leg title deciders, the organisers said on Monday.

The Cameroonian port city of Douala has been chosen to stage the Champions League final on Friday May 29 at the recently built 50,000-seat Japoma Stadium.

On Sunday, May 24, the Confederation Cup final will be played at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Moroccan capital Rabat.

Home-and-away finals were ditched by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) last year after the second leg of the Champions League final in Tunis was abandoned.

Wydad Casablanca, who were trailing 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate, walked off after 60 minutes because a malfunctioning VAR machine could not check a disallowed equaliser.

Cairo teams Al Ahly and Zamalek and Casablanca sides Raja and Wydad have reached the two-leg Champions League semifinals, scheduled for May 1/2 and 8/9.

Moroccan sides Hassania Agadir and Renaissance Berkane, Guinean club Horoya and Egyptian outfit Pyramids are through to the Confederation Cup semifinals on May 3 and 10.

With Agadir and Berkane drawn together, the winners will have the advantage of playing the final in their country.

While Casablanca and Tunis were also available to host the Champions League final, Rabat were the lone bidders for the Confederation Cup decider.

Single-match finals are a gamble in Africa as football supporters generally shun matches not involving clubs from their country.

Limited flights and the fact that most African football followers cannot afford the relatively high cost of travel within the continent are other negative factors.

The CAF Super Cup, an annual match between the Champions League and Confederation Cup winners, was launched in 1993 and small crowds attended matches in neutral countries.

Embarrassed by tiny turnouts, CAF gave home advantage to the Champions League winners from 1996.