Despite being subjected to series of intimidation by the officials of RS Berkane of Morocco, players and officials of Kwara United Football Club have pledged to secure the ticket for Group stage of the 2022/2023 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup competition.
Kwara United FC left for Morocco in batches, a feature which might not be unconnected with the antics of the team which were beaten 3-1 by Kwara United FC in the first leg of the First Round of the competition last Sunday in Lagos.
And according to the rules of the competition, it’s the responsibility of the home team to transport the visitors from the capital city to the venue of the match, in case it’s not holding at the capital city, but RS Berkane booked night flight for Kwara United, as against morning or afternoon flight from Casablanca to Berkane.
Kwara United FC was not airlifted until 12 midnight to Berkane, and did not get to the Hotel until 3.40 am, as the bus conveying the team made slow moves round the town to ensure time was wasted.
The antics was all for the team not to have a feel of the turf where the match will take place, ahead of the match fixed to begin by 8.30pm.
Not done yet, the home team returned in the morning to pressurize the management of the Hotel, Hotel Radisson, to ask Kwara United to move to another hotel because they have already booked same for their team, a move which Kwara United vehemently rejected.
Kwara United eliminated AS Douanes 3-0 on aggregate in the Preliminary Rounds, to come face to face with the defending champions, RS Berkane, which they defeated 3-1 in the first leg in first leg.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has picked Haythan Guirat of Tunisia as the Centre Referee for the crucial match. Also listed are Yamen Malloulchi and Mohamed Bakir, also of Tunisia, as Assistant Referees I and II, and another Tunisian, Naim Hosni as the Fourth Official.
Martin Gomez of The Gambia is the Match Commissioner, Elsayed Morad Attalla of Egypt as the Regeree Assessor, and Morocco’s Abbdelrahmane Rahib as the Covid-19 Officer.
