Nigerian side Enyimba have written to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following the allegations of neglect levelled against them by their opponents in Wednesday’s Confederation Cup semi final first leg match, Raja Casablanca.
The Moroccans, three times African champions claimed that officials of Enyimba failed to receive them at the Port Harcourt Airport despite sending their travel itinerary to the Nigerian team, a claim the club has vehemently denied.
In a letter written to the continental football governing body on Monday, Enyimba frowned at Raja Athletique Club Casablanca’s attempt at embarrassing them.
“This complaint of Raja is an attempt to embarrass our club because Raja themselves are in violation of the rules of the competition after failing to provide us with details of their arrival.
“We had reached out to them requesting their travel itinerary but we were not offered this information,” read Enyimba’s letter.
Raja Casablanca delegation are already in Nigeria before the match vs Enyimba.
No one from the nigerian team or the football federation decided to show up at harcourt aeroport.
The whole staff waited from 03.00 a.m to the early morning to find a transport to the hotel. pic.twitter.com/afxXiWQ9aa— Ayoub Basri (@AyoubBasrii) October 1, 2018
Furthermore, Enyimba expressed surprise at the fact that the match officials designated for Wednesday’s game came aboard the same airline (Air Maroc) as the Moroccan side with the flight’s destination changed from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
“At no time did Raja officials notify us they were coming in via Air Maroc. Had they done so, they would have revealed the very disturbing and suspicious fact that it was the same flight used by the match officials from Tunisia,” the letter further read.
“So strange was the landing of Air Maroc in Port Harcourt that it had to fly back to Lagos for its scheduled landing.”
Enyimba concluded in the letter addressed to CAF’s Secretary General that the acts of their opponents, Raja and that of the match officials are suspicious and not in tandem with the fairplay nature of the game.
Sporting Director of Enyimba, Jude Anyadofu told www.aclsports.com on Monday evening when contacted that his club are fully aware of the antics of the North Africans and they trust CAF to handle the matter the best possible way.
Enyimba will host Raja Casablanca in the first leg semifinal game on Wednesday at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba. Kick-off time is 2pm Nigerian time.
