Motsepe Confirms Return Of Two-Legged Champions League Finals

Motsepe Confirms Return Of Two-Legged Champions League Finals. The Confederation of African Football President Dr. Patrice Motsepe has confirmed the return of the two-legged CAF Champions League finals. This comes after many African football enthusiasts criticised a one-match final. 

Al Ahly were the ones who heavily questioned the one-match final after CAF awarded Morocco the rights to stage the Champions League. This was a shocking decision considering that Ahly were going to clash with Wydad Casablanca which is from the hosting country.

“We’re going to fix that. This will never happen again,” Motsepe said at the SA National Editors Forum in Johannesburg, as per the Sowetan. “It’s something I inherited and I could not change.

The decision was taken before me. We’ll have a two-legged final because, again, can you imagine the supporters of Al Ahly in Egypt and, of course, my favourite coach, Pitso (Mosimane), and former Ahly coach?”

Motsepe explained why many CAF events have been held in Morocco lately taking into account that African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) and CAF Awards are also set to take place in Morocco. Is everything going to Morocco? Let me tell you something: While I’m president of CAF, no country, no club or nation is going to enjoy preferred status,” he added.

“Again the issue (on Morocco being favoured) is not what the facts are, the issue is perception. And the reason why we have the CAF Awards in Morocco is because they’re having the women’s (AWCON) in Morocco.The women’s competition is in Morocco and we’re inviting all of the other presidents to come there because it costs us less money because everybody is there.

“We’ll have an excellent CAF Awards, and I do want to conclude by saying I’m very sensitive to the perception that we should not be seen to be favouring Morocco or any individual country. And I can assure you that when I’ve got all the presidents, this is the message I want to emphasise.

“But having said that, Morocco, more than any country in Africa, allocates and donates money for football development on the continent. And that’s a fact. I want to conclude by saying I’m more alive now than ever before to ensure that all countries are equal, clubs are treated equally.

“I can fully understand the unhappiness (over Morocco hosting the CAF Champions League final) of Al Ahly president, and we’ll make sure that we treat everybody equally.”