Egyptian club sides Zamalek and Pyramids have rejected the postponement of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup semi-final games, while Al Ahly have accepted the proposal to reschedule.
It was reported that CAF is looking to move the semi-final games of both competitions which was set to take place in September to a later date due to the rise of coronavirus cases in the host nation, Morocco.
Zamalek disclosed their rejection of the postponement in a video conference meeting with CAF and other clubs, and stated that they were joined by fellow Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids in that decision.
“I propose we play the home and away games of the Caf Champions League semi-finals in Egypt. We welcome our fellow Moroccans, for whom we have all the love and appreciation,” Zamalek President Mortada Mansour said.
“But we refuse to postpone the games because of a deal made between Mohamed Fadl, a member of the normalization committee and some Moroccan teams.
“The league harmed many Zamalek players and they were insisting on resuming the league just so Al Ahly beat us but the opposite happened.
“Despite our situation, I consider Zamalek as being the only club that benefited from the league’s resumption as we now sit second, securing us a spot in the Champions League, while our rivals didn’t benefit from it.”
In a club statement, Al Ahly expressed their willingness to support CAF in postponing the games.
“We were always planning on playing the semis-finals as per Caf’s scheduled dates,” read the club statement.
“However, due to the current situation in Morocco and the difficulty for Raja and Wydad to play their matches because of the spread of the coronavirus, we don’t mind postponing the games.
“The human and health conditions are more important than the competition.”
The last four in the CAF Champions League have two Moroccan teams and two Egyptian teams set to face off with Raja Casablanca facing Zamalek and Al Ahly facing Wydad Casablanca. For the Confederation Cup RS Berkane will play Hassania Agadir, while Pyramids tackle Horoya.
