Teams get the Caf run-around
Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns were both left stuck at OR Tambo International Airport, or so to speak, earlier this month, as their Caf Champions League games received a last-minute chop from the Confederation of African Football.
Covid-19, and the statistics coming out of South Africa, clearly weren’t pleasing to the eye of Morocco and Algeria, as their respective football federations both wrote to Caf asking for their games against Amakhosi and Masandawana to be moved to a neutral venue.
Chiefs were set to play Wydad Casablanca in their Group C opener but it became clear something was up when their visas didn’t materialise.
Sundowns, meanwhile, seemed confident as late as their game against Baroka FC last week that their visas were en route, only to find out they couldn’t travel to Algeria to face CR Belouizdad.
Now, it is fair enough, in these strange times, for governments to be cautious about who they allow into their country, with no one wanting this pandemic to continue to spread.
What does seem a little odd, however, is how last minute all this re-arranging appeared to be, when South Africa’s Covid numbers were available for all to see for some time.
Caf ultimately granted postponements to both Wydad and Belouizdad and ordered them to find a neutral venue to play in.
And they both have, with Caf confirming yesterday that Sundowns will play Belouzidad in Tanzania on Sunday, and Chiefs will play Wydad in Burkina Faso on the same day.
One wonders how many more difficulties, Chiefs, Sundowns, and Orlando Pirates, now they have made the Confederation Cup group stages, will have in travelling in this year’s competitions.
Rulani Mokwena mentions the disruption caused to Sundowns’ schedule in today’s Phakaaathi – now the Premier Soccer League will have to find another date for Sundowns’ Nedbank Cup game against Polokwane City, scheduled for Saturday, and, presumably, Sundowns’ league game at Stellenbosch next Tuesday, to go with the league game against Maritzburg United that already needs re-arranging.
Chiefs, at least, won’t have to play in the Nedbank Cup this weekend, because they are no longer in the Nedbank Cup, having been knocked out by Richards Bay in the last-32.
Still, their away DStv Premiership game against TTM on 2 March is also surely now off.
Moving games because of Caf competitions is hardly something the PSL will find remarkable – it was arguably an even more tricky situation when the Caf continental club competitions were running on a February to November calendar.
But the problems of travel have certainly thrown another gremlin into the mix, though it is not just in Africa, of course – all the English clubs, for example, are having to play their Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg matches in neutral territory.
One just hopes that countries in Africa, knowing that they are likely to have to re-organise games because of their understandable health restrictions, are a little more proactive as all this scrambling around right now seems a little reactive.