The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rejected a request from the Egyptian Football Federation (EFA) to postpone the match against Guinea, hoping for day five of the CAN 2023 qualifiers.
After Al Ahly qualified for the final of the African Champions League against Espérance de Tunis (0-3, 1-0) on May 19, the EFA took over the CAF for the postponement of the Guinea-Egypt confrontation scheduled for June 14. The federation was afraid of the accumulation of fatigue of the representatives present in Al Ahly, who should return from a distant trip to the antipodes of the continent, in South Africa, after a possible rematch with Mamelodi Sundowns on June 11. This is in case the Brazilian Bafanas eliminate Wydad in the LdC Semi-Finals. Request denied by pan-African body, Al Ahram newspaper reveals.
Why did the CAF reject Egypt’s request?
Indeed, Al Ahly, which has almost eight Egyptian internationals in its ranks, including Abdelmoneim, Kahraba, El-Shenawy, Suleja and El-Shahat, is definitely free from the grueling trip to Pretoria, South Africa after qualifying. May 20 (0-0, 2-2 against Mamelodi). That’s why the Red Devils will travel to Morocco, specifically to the Casablanca fortress of Wodad, located about a five-hour flight from Cairo, for the rematch of the LdC final on June 11. The representatives will only need to join the Assembly of the Pharaohs in Marrakech, an hour’s flight south of Casablanca, to challenge Guinea, which does not have CAF-standard stadiums, for the playoffs until CAN 2023 and who will therefore receive his opponent in Morocco.
Recall that Egypt and Guinea are first and second respectively in Group D, tied with nine points on the clock. Their qualification is virtually certain as Malawi and Ethiopia lead from behind with three points.
With an African foot
