Confederation of African Football has informed the Liberia Football Association that the match involving Liberia’s 1st Division Champions, LPRC Oilers FC and Raja Club Athletic in the 2021/ 2022 CAF Champions League will not be played at the ATS or, the famous SKD but at a venue outside Liberia due to the stadiums ban.
LPRC Oilers will face Raja in the first leg second round of the CAF Champions league on the weekend of October 15-17 with the return leg slated for the weekend of October 22-24.
The Liberian side got a better off Togolese Champions ASKO De Kara in the first qualifying round of the competition to qualify to the next stage.
Oilers defeated ASKO De Kara 4-2 on aggregate following a 3-0 win in the first leg at the ATS when the stadium was not banned, but lost the returned first fixture in Togo 2-1.
Meanwhile, LPRC Oilers have chosen Morocco to play their first leg home fixture against Raja Casablanca on October 17. This means, the Oilers will have to be based in Morocco the soonest to honor both legs of the second round of the CAF 2021/2022 TOTAL ENERGIES Champions League.
In a communication by the Chair of the Oilers Board to the Secretary General of the LFA, dated on September 24, the club has agreed to honor their first leg in Morocco which will be their home ground as a result of a ban imposed by CAF on the two major stadiums in Liberia; SKD and ATS. The communication further asked the LFA to make the necessary arrangements to facilitate the trip.
Ghana was an option where the Oilers would have played their first leg match with Raja at the Accra sports stadium, but per the cost analysis, playing in Ghana would have been more expensive.
According to Oilers FC, amount of US$ 15,000.00 must be paid upfront to the government there who are owners of the stadium with money set aside for ball boys, security, medics and others. Then taking into account the cost of flight from Liberia to Ghana and later Morocco, it was too much as it relates to cost.
The prize money for group stage qualification is US$ 550,000.00 which is certainly a huge boost.
Written By: Sylvester Tamba/ stamba498@gmail.com
