Chiefs get new Caf date
Wydad unilaterally move Caf Champions League fixture to Cairo.
Kaizer Chiefs’ opponents for their abandoned Caf Champions League fixture, Wydad Athletic, have announced that the match will now take place in Cairo on Friday.
The match had to be postponed after Amakhosi were given the run around when they tried to get visas from the Moroccan embassy in Pretoria last week.
The Moroccan Football Federation wrote to the Confederation of African Football (Caf), telling them that authorities would not allow Chiefs to visit Morocco, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But while Wydad have gone public with the new plans for the game, it seems Chiefs have not been informed as they focus on their DStv Premiership fixture against AmaZulu tomorrow.
Amakhosi’s media liaison, Vina Maphosa sent out an audio clip where he interviewed Philani Zulu on the upcoming league match and although they touched a bit on the Champions League fixture, it was only in passing.
“Looking at how we played in the last game, getting knocked out of the Nedbank Cup, it’s a sad thing go to through. But it is now for us to pick ourselves up and focus on the AmaZulu game.
“They played on Sunday and have some momentum going, we have not played since the Nedbank Cup game, so it’s all up to us as players to keep our feet on the ground and our heads up and look forward to the game,” said Zulu.
“As much as it was a blunder for us not to go and play that Caf game, it also gave us time to reflect on ourselves, to prepare more as a team. And given the time that we’ve had we are looking good,” he added.
In a statement posted on their Facebook page on Sunday night, Wydad confirmed the Champions League fixture.
“We want to let the generous friendly fans know that it has been decided to hold the match between Wydad and South African side Kaizer Chiefs at AlSalam Stadium in Cairo.
“The Wydad sports administration extends its heartfelt thanks to Faouzi Lakjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, who spared no effort to find a neutral stadium that could host the match, as it intensified its contacts, even though they (Caf) gave the club only 24 hours to determine a new venue for the match,” read the statement.
“Wydad also thanks the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Egyptian federation, who thankfully accepted this match.
“This is not strange for the brothers in Egypt, with whom we have fraternal and friendly relations,” it added.
Caf have not announced the new date and venue and it is not clear if Amakhosi had received any official communication yet.