CAF Denies Plateau United Access To Train In Stade Olympique Rades For Esperance

CAF Denies Plateau United Access To Train In Stade Olympique Rades For Esperance

Ibraheem Lateef Ayodele

Plateau United on Friday in Tunis received the shocking news of their lives after they were told by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that they can't train at the Stade Olympique Rades, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The Stade Olympique Rades is the venue for Saturday night's Champions League crucial second leg final round game between Esperance and Plateau United.

Plateau United who takes a slim advantage in the game having won the first leg 2-1 at the MKO Abiola Stadium last weekend, had only arrived in Tunis in the early hours of Friday.

It was scooped from our source in Tunis that in the pre-match meeting, CAF officials told Plateau United that they can not have a training session at the Stade Olympique Rades, as they were only allowed to familiarise themselves with the environment in the stadium.

When Plateau United officials inquired why they were been denied access to train, a CAF official showed them a copy of a letter dated (Friday), which stated: Kindly note that the Olympic Stadium in Rades is hosting the following two CAF M#56 EST v Plateau United FC on 15 Oct. 2022, M#52 Club Africain v Kipanga FC on 16 Oct. 2022.

Accordingly, to maintain the condition of the pitch of the stadium and reduce work on it, note that the Official Training will not be done in the stadium and the visiting is allowed to do a familiarization visit on Friday 14 Oct. 2022.

FTF is urgently requested to confirm the pitch hosting the official training..

We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

The Peace Boys had no choice but to train in one of the practice pitches made available, which was in a deplorable state.

Efforts to reach the Head Coach of Plateau United, Fidelis Ilechukwu didn't yield success as he was busy with his assistants in training.

But an official (who didn't want his name online) said: "Ilechukwu wouldn't want to be dragged in any issue relating to CAF, rather he wants to concentrate on his team to ensure that they come out with a favourable result against Esperance on Saturday night."

The winner of the two-leg fixture will qualify for the group stage of the CAF Champions League while the loser will compete in the Confederation Cup play-offs.

On getting to the stage, the Peace Boys played a 2-2 away draw against Gabonese side, AS Mandji in the preliminary round.