The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Senegalese referees for Sunday’s Total Energies CAF Confederation Cup group stage clash between Rivers United of Nigeria and Academica Petroleos Clube do Lobito of Angola, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Rivers United vs APC do Lobito match is the first group stage game of the 2023/2024 CAF Confederation Cup season and is billed to hold at the 30,000 capacity Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo on Sunday, 26th November, 2023.
Africa’s football governing body has now appointed Senegalese match arbiter Adalbert Diouf as the centre referee of the encounter. Diouf will be assisted by his compatriots Djibril Canada and Mamadou Ngom while El Hadji Amadou Sy will be the fourth official.
Hosts Rivers United will again play their continental fixtures in Uyo for the second year running after CAF refused permission for the usage of their home ground, the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.
Rivers United won two and drew one of their Confederation Cup group stage games played in Uyo last season and will be hoping for another impressive home run starting with APC do Lobito, even at a neutral ground.
Ahead of their participation in the group stage of the Confederation Cup, the Pride of Rivers have added former Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf to their coaching crew, joining other experienced coaches Evans Ogenyi and technical manager Stanley Eguma on the technical bench.
Salisu Yusuf marked his first appearance at the club with a 2-1 home win over Abia Warriors in a Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) game decided on Sunday.
On the injury front, Stanley Eguma’s Rivers United are struggling over the fitness of defenders Emmanuel Ampiah and Adekunle Adeleke while midfielder Fatai Abdullahi has also missed the last couple of games. They are however boosted by the return of Liberian speedster Mark Gibson for their group stage campaign.
