Caf Champions League: CR Belouizdad vs Gor Mahia game pushed forward - Rachier

The second preliminary round of the Caf Champions League match between Gor Mahia and CR Belouizdad has been brought forward to December 26.

Initially, the game had been set for Wednesday, December 23 but K'Ogalo wrote to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) requesting the match to be brought forward since the Algerian airspace was locked owing to Covid-19.

However, according to Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier, Caf has finally heard their cry.

"Our game against Belouizdad will now be played on Saturday, December 26," Rachier confirmed to Goal on Monday night.

"We have managed to reschedule the game; it was tough for us to get a way of reaching Algeria because their airspace was locked owing to Covid-19 pandemic, but it has been sorted now.

"We will arrive in Algeria between December 23 and 24 for the game and leave when they tell us to."

K'Ogalo players have been on a go-slow, protesting their unpaid dues and have threatened to boycott the game if the club does not pay them soonest.

The veteran administrator has commented on the issue as well, stating they will work with willing players.

"Currently we do not have money and we are doing our best to pay the players," Rachier continued.

"We will leave for Algeria with willing players, we are not going to force anyone to travel with us. This is a match we want to win and we have to work with players willing to play for us."

However, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) have said they are yet to see any confirmation letter from Caf indicating the first leg has been rescheduled to a new date.
 
 "We have not seen nor received a letter from Caf to the effect they have pushed the match forward, the letter we have in our possession is the one [Caf] insisted Gor Mahia must honour the match in Algeria," a source in FKF, who did not want to be named, told Goal.

The Kenyan champions qualified for the next phase of the competition after they managed to secure a 4-3 aggregate win against APR of Rwanda in a two-legged affair.

The Rwandan champions came into the return leg with a 2-1 advantage from their first leg meeting in Kigali, but could not sustain the pressure as Gor Mahia scored two quick goals in added time to win 3-1 and advance.

On the other hand, CR Belouizdad of Algeria reached the next round after a 4-0 aggregate win against Al Nasr of Libya. The Algerian champions won the first leg away in Tripoli 2-0 and returned home to complete the job with another 2-0 win and will now face K’Ogalo.