CAF CONFEDERATION CUP
Rivers United FC have confirmed their rescheduled CAF Confederation Cup tie against South Africa’s Bloemfontein Celtic will be played in Benin Republic’s capital Porto Novo on January 23.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) ordered the second leg of the last 32 tie to be moved to a neighbouring country to Nigeria, which has more lenient Covid-19 protocols for travellers arriving from South Africa.
Originally the match should have been played on January6 in Port Harcourt but the South African side were not able to travel to Nigeria due to the strict coronavirus regulations put in place by the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.
The regulations meant that Bloemfontein Celtic would have had to quarantine for seven days upon arrival, because South Africa is designated as a high risk country.
According to the South African Football Federation(SAFA) “the decision to reschedule the match comes after SAFA reached out to CAF to seek guidance on the matter after Celtic’s initial appeal to the Nigerian FA and Nigerian government was turned down.
Rivers United lead the tie 2-0 after the first leg with the overall winners progressingto play Champions League losers in the play-offs to qualify for the group stage of the Confederation Cup.
