NO FANS FOR LEOPARD, PIRATES CAF CLASH

MBABANE – The TOTALEnergies CAF Confederation Cup match between Royal Leopard and Orlando Pirates will be played behind closed doors.

Contrary to a report carried by a local daily newspaper, fans will not be allowed inside the Mbombela Stadium to watch the clash set to kick-off at 6pm on Sunday. According to the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) statement released yesterday about the match, their South African counterparts, in terms of their COVID-19 protocol, no fans are allowed to watch matches.
“It should be noted that EFA has been informed by their counterparts in compliance with the CAF COVID-19 protocol, no fans are allowed, subject to an approval by CAF where the hosting federation’s country protocols allow,” reads the statement. The police side are unable to host matches in the country because of a lack of facilities.

Renovations

Mavuso Sports Centre, which has been an alternate to the country’s main venue, after the closure of Somhlolo National Stadium due to renovations, was ruled out by CAF as it was found to be lacking the basic requirements to host continental club competition group matches. As a result, Royal Leopard were told to find an alternate venue where they will pay about E75 000 booking fee for each of the three ‘home’ games, starting with this Sunday’s clash against Pirates. In total, they are expected to spend about E225 000 for the venue, excluding transport, accommodations and other expenses. Radebe then announced the match officials who come from Southern Africa. The game will be broadcast live on SABC and SuperSport. Leopard is expected to leave the country on Friday having returned from Algeria on Tuesday. They suffered a 2-0 defeat in their first Group A match while Orlando Pirates also suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Libya’s Al-Ittihad.

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