By Kgomotso Mokoena
Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs have written a letter to Africa’s football mother body CAF stating that they must be awarded the three points since the host side Wydad failed to organise the match.
Chiefs escalated the matter after their CAF Champions League group stage clash against Wydad Casablanca was cancelled and are now demanding a walkover and three points from the cancelled match.
This is after the Moroccan government and football authorities refused to allow Chiefs players, technical team and officials visas to enter their country due to the new Covid-19 variant in South Africa.
There are also strict restrictions in Morocco against travellers from South Africa. A Safa insider revealed that Chiefs football manager Bobby Motaung sent a letter to CAF via the national association due to protocol.
“I can confirm that Chiefs wrote to CAF and they want the Wydad match declared a walkover [2-0 result] and that they are given the three points. The rules are clear that if a home team fails to host a game, they forfeit the match and the three points are awarded to the opposition side. The same rules apply during the Covid-19 pandemic as well,” said our informer, who opted to remain anonymous.
Approached for comment, Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe would not be drawn into discussing the Chiefs letter.
“Yes, we did receive a letter from CAF saying that they will give us direction on the game. As Safa, we will only comment after a response and direction from CAF,” Motlanthe said.
Motaung was not available to shed light on the matter as his phone rang unanswered yesterday.
The news regarding t he visas being declined hit Amakhosi with just under 12 hours before the squad was due to depart for Morocco, despite applications having been submitted timeously.
Chiefs then confirmed on their social media platforms that the club finally received communication from CAF via Safa that their group stages game, scheduled for yesterday in Morocco, will not take place.
The continent’s footballing body added that it would communicate its decision on the matter in due course.
Gavin Hunt’s players are now waiting for CAF’s decision on the matter, which will either reward Amakhosi with the walkover or decide that the match be played at a neutral venue.
This would be similar to the case of Bloemfontein Celtic against Nigeria’s Rivers United, where the game ended up taking place in neighbouring Benin.
These developments mean Chiefs got the weekend o and were back at training preparing for their mouth-watering league clash against Benni McCarthy’s red-hot AmaZulu at FNB Stadium on Wednesday.
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