The organizing committee of the interclub competitions of the African Football Confederation (CAF) on Wednesday announced that the play-offs of the first preliminary round of the Champions League and the CAF cup concerning Guinean clubs, will only be played in one-off matches outside the Francophone African country.
This decision – which is currently been contested by the Guinea Football Association and their clubs – could impact on their football progress negatively.
It is the political situation in Guinea after last Sunday’s coup that is why CAF took this decision.
The matches under question :
1. Match N ° 5/6 (Confederation Cup TotalEnergies 2021/22): Diambars FC (Senegal) vs Wakriya AC (Guinea)
Date : September 12, 2021 (17h00 GMT)
Venue : at Stade Lat-Dior, Senegal
2. Match N ° 7/8 (Confederation Cup TotalEnergies 2021/22): Anglogold (Guinea) vs Bayelsa United FC (Nigeria)
Date : September 19, 2021 (3:00 p.m. GMT)
Venue : Samson Siasia Sports Stadium, Nigeria.
3. Match N ° 1/2 (TotalEnergies Champions League 2021/22): Club Industriel de Kamsar (Guinea) vs Accra Hearts of Oak (Ghana)
Date : September 19, 2021 (16h00 GMT)
Venue : at Accra Sports Stadium, Ghana.
First of all there is the issue of home advantage that favors the opponents of the Guinean Africa teams.
Again should the Guinea clubs fail to reach the group stages of the inter-club competitions, what that means it that their ranking points on the CAF 5-year ranking would be affected. Do not forget that Guinea is currently the 7th best football country on the CAF 5-year placements of national associations.
Political instability does not aid football in anyway and the earlier Guinea comes out of this state of insecurity the better things will be for their football.
