Times Of Swaziland: CAF SHIFTS CLASH TO TODAY

CAF SHIFTS CLASH TO TODAY
================================================================================
 BY NTOKOZO MAGONGO on 22/02/2021 21:52:00


MBABANE – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rescued Young
Buffaloes from playing under heavy fatigue and jetlag.
This comes after the second-leg match of the CAF Confederations Cup playoff
against Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive du Sahel was postponed to today afternoon,
after the army side arrived for the do or die game two hours before kick-off
yesterday.
The game was initially scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but it was postponed to
yesterday as Buffaloes struggled to find its way to Tunisia from Thursday, twice
coming back home from the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South
Africa.
connecting
Buffaloes had to spend about 18 hours in flight from OR Tambo International
Airport, South Africa to Qatar before connecting to Tunis, Tunisia. The
21-member delegation arrived safely in Tunisia yesterday.
The match will now kick-off at 4pm today (5pm local time) at the Taib El Mehairi
Stadium in Sfax, Tunisia.
A statement from Etoile Sportive du Sahel’s official Facebook page confirmed
the postponement of the match. Buffaloes will now have at least over 24 hours of
rest before the match.
“Postponement of the match by 24 hours, regret TOIL The African Confederation
of Football (CAF) decided to postpone the second-leg preliminary round match
between ES Sahel and Young Buffaloes of Eswatini until Tuesday, February 23,
2021, at 16:00 at Taib El Mehairi Stadium in Sfax,” reads the statement.
Eswatini Football Association Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe
confirmed correspondence from CAF alerting them that the game has been
rescheduled for today.
Buffaloes had to twice return home from Johannesburg while attempting to fly to
Tunisia as it was alleged they were not in possession of an authorisation letter
from the Tunisian Government allowing them to enter the North African country as
it is currently under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The journey started on Thursday and they were only able to make it through on
Sunday evening after the two failed attempts on Friday and Saturday.
It is still a mountain to climb for the army side in the second-leg as they will
have to reverse the 2-1 defeat they suffered in the first-leg at Mavuso Sports
Centre on Valentine’s Day (February 14) if they are to realise their dream of
reaching the CAF Confederations Cup group stages for the first time.