Yesternight we were treated to a very good CAF Champions League final pitting Wydad Casablanca against Al Ahly. The former deservedly won 2-0 and I take this opportunity to congratulate them.However, the road to the final was marred with controversy over the choice of the venue to host the game. Just to take you back, the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup finals were previously played on over two legs, home and away but from last season, CAF changed this to just one leg played in a neutral venue.That is normally what happens in most finals in other continents but I don’t think it can work in Africa for various reasons but I will discuss that later. For now, I want to call out CAF for its incompetency especially in handling this season’s CAF Champions League final. For those not aware, the final venue was communicated way after the finalists had already been confirmed. This is bollocks! This is the Champions League final, not a village tournament final and it should therefore be treated with the respect it deserves. There’s a cliche that says “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail” and this is what exactly CAF did and to make it worse, the final was played at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca, the very pitch Wydad use as their homeground!Where is FIFA, where is the justice? Where are the international newspapers from this scandal? Where is the voice of the free world. Stop in vain and corruption#StopCafCorruption pic.twitter.com/OATqM0zzao— ثائر مصري (@alexcairogiza) May 9, 2022 In its defense, CAF argues that most member federations refused to host the final, the Senegal FA pulling away after the semis and only Morocco took the risk and we all know why. There’s no escaping the fact that CAF did not handle this venue issue with the professionalism it deserves. And why is it always Morocco coming to the rescue of teams and events that need a “neutral” venue for matches?Wydad is a good team no doubt but they had undue advantage over Al Ahly while playing at home. The venue was also confirmed late locking out many Al Ahly fans who would have wished to attend the important game. Kaizer Chiefs beef up squad after acquiring duo from StellenboschThat said, I think CAF should revert to the two-legs final format for fairness. The travel logistics in Africa are a nightmare. We require visas to visit other African nations unlike in Europe for instance where natives can travel easily within nations. CAF should revert to two legs for the Champions League and Confederation Cup finals, home and away for fairness. The travel dynamics in Africa wont work best for a neutral venue final if its not the usual home stadium of either of the two finalists— Jeff Kinyanjui (@Nyash88) May 30, 2022 It is also very expensive for a normal football fan to travel from Kenya to South Africa to watch the CAF Champions League final for instance. If the matches are played in neutral venues that then means the teams will miss their fans and the atmosphere won’t be as lively as it is supposed to be.
