The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has turned down Al Ahly’s and the Egyptian Federation Association’s incessant request to shift the final venue of the 2021/2022 CAF Champions League final that is set to be held in Morocco for a second time in a row.Around a week ago, the African football governing body made the very late decision to once again stage the final of the prestigious interclub competition in Morocco sending many stakeholders including the record Champions League winners Al Ahly up in arms.As a result, the Egyptian Red Devils, who are coached by South African maestro Pitso Mosimane, protested the decision stating that it would favour one of the last remaining four sides – Wydad Casablanca – should they make it to the one legged final.“The decision of CAF was announced at a late stage of the competition with four teams remaining and it serves one team that will have the home advantage if they reached the final,” Al Ahly wrote in their letter.Al Ahly not giving up on a neutral venue for #CAFCL final, @AlAhly calls on @EFA to escalate the situation of CAF champions league final venue to FIFA. pic.twitter.com/jVZWYpi1Pb— African Soccer Updates (@Africansoccerup) May 11, 2022 The EFA on the other hand joined hands with Al Ahly as they submitted their own bid to host the final.“Within the framework of cooperation and joint coordination between the Football Association and Al-Ahly Club, the Football Association sent an official letter to the Confederation of African Football requesting that Egypt host the final of the African Champions League for the current version 2021/2022,” EFA wrote.🚨| Al Ahly calls on @EFA to submit bid to host CAF champions league final. https://t.co/1bqWQ1EVKn— Al Ahly SC 🇬🇧 (@AlAhlyEnglish) May 11, 2022 The two protests were however turned down as CAF provided an update regarding the issue.“CAF appreciates and fully understands the complaints and concerns raised by Al Ahly SC and the EFA and is committed to the principles of fairness, justice and equality of all clubs and member associations.“However, CAF was obligated to adhere to and implement the decision that was taken by the previous CAF leadership in July 2019. Morocco and Senegal were the only countries that fulfilled the host country bid criteria, after CAF requested its 54 member associations to submit bids to host the CAF Champions League one-leg final. Egypt did not submit a bid,”CAF provides Additional Information on the TotalEnergies Champions League Final https://t.co/2KxYnzKTZr— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) May 12, 2022 “CAF subsequently awarded the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final to Morocco, after Senegal withdrew its bid,” CAF stated.
