AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE African governing soccer body, CAF has called off Confederation Cup match pitting Namungo FC and Al-Rabita that was to be played at Chamazi Complex.
The decision by the African football governing body has been made after South Sudan failed to facilitate matters around the officials who were expected to oversee the game.
Caf, has, however, failed to reveal whether the game will be given another new date after the Sunday cancellation.
“The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has called off the Confederation Cup match between Al-Rabita and Namungo FC that was to be played on December 6,” a statement by the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) information officer, Clifford Ndimbo.
“Caf has made the decision after South Sudan Football Federation (SSFA) failed to facilitate the technicalities involving the match officials. “The match had been planned to be played in Juba, South Sudan but SSFA requested the game to be hosted in Dar es Salaam. The request had been accepted by Caf.”
The Tanzanian side, who recently appointed Hemed Morocco as head coach in place of Thierry Hitimana, after a string of poor results, enjoy a 3-0 advantage from the first leg.
South Sudan does not have a stadium that meets Fifa and Caf standards and that is the reason, coupled with travel restrictions emanating from the coronavirus pandemic, that necessitated the SSFA’s request to have the game played in Tanzania.
The national team, the Bright Stars, also had to engage Uganda in Nairobi for the African Cup of Nations qualifier in November.
Earlier, Namungo’s information officer Kindamba Namlia revealed the kind of preparations they had before the Sunday game but they now have to wait for long before Caf gives the way forward.
“After the past match, the coach complained about lack of efficiency when it comes to netting goals and so far, he has worked a lot on that area in order to score more goals than we did in the previous tie,” Namlia said.
“We consider them [Al-Rabita] as our opponent we need to defeat to sail through to the other side of the competition. “They are winners of Federation Cup in their country as such, they are not as simple as many people see them.”
Namungo are participating in the Caf competition for the first time.
