Al Ahly SC called on the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to submit an urgent bid to host the 2022 CAF Champions League final, based on the fact that Senegal withdrew their bid to host the game.
The Egyptian giants claim Senegal’s withdrawal should have been announced earlier by CAF to show transparency and to allow other countries to submit their bids to host the game.
CAF did not announce the withdrawal of Senegal and chose the same venue to host the game for the second straight season due to it being the only bid. The suggestion is that this decision violates the standards of fair play as equal opportunities were not provided to each of the four semifinalists, so giving one team an advantage of playing the final at home if they progress.
Al Ahly have released a statement on their website and claim they were never notified by any party when the national football federations were allowed to submit their bids to host the final.
The club also renewed the demand from the EFA to provide the club with a copy of all the letters between EFA and CAF regarding choosing the venue of the Champions League final.
Al Ahly urged the EFA to support the club in this situation and provide them with all the requested documents, including the EFA’s request to CAF to play the game in a neutral venue.
Al Ahly will include all these documents in their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Meanwhile, the defending champions have arrived in Algeria ahead of their second leg clash against ES Setif with a 4-0 lead from last weekend’s first leg. –Supersport
