The second leg of the African Football League quarterfinal between Nigeria's Enyimba and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will now be played tomorrow, as opposed to today as had previously been stated, according to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
According to CAF, this move is intended to allow Enyimba ample time to travel to Casablanca and get ready for the match. The North Africans refused to give Enyimba a landing permission, which caused the Nigerian team's flight to be delayed until late yesterday. Enyimba was originally scheduled to arrive in Morocco on Monday.
The team had departed from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Monday night, but they were unable to take off until they received a landing permit from Moroccan authorities.
After waiting inside their chartered Air Peace plane for almost six hours on Monday in the absence of any progress, the players and officials were forced by airline authorities to exit the squad at approximately one in the morning.
An Enyimba told a local outlet, exclusivenews.com.ng, "The airline booked two hotels for us even though it was difficult before we were checked in."
"As we speak, we're still in Lagos and are unsure of when or if we will be able to depart because the landing permit has not yet been obtained.” After obtaining the go-ahead, the group departed for Casablanca yesterday.
After looking into Enyimba's objections to CAF yesterday, the organization decided to postpone the game by one day. The match will now take place in Casablanca by 7:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Concerned about the negative impression Enyimba's failure to supply one of their stars with a properly marked jersey during the tie's first leg this past weekend, supporters of the team have called on the Abia State government to provide the team with sufficient support in order to prevent further embarrassment.
Enyimba did not have a full set of jerseys for Sunday's game against the Moroccans in Uyo. Instead, one player, Innocent Gabriel, had his name and jersey number hastily scrawled on his shirt instead of being printed as it should have been.
A few supporters chastised the club's chairman, Nwankwo Kanu, a former captain of the Super Eagles, for the anomalous event, branding it as "mysterious" and detrimental to both the nation and the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL).
"It's surprising that Enyimba is playing a continental match with their name and jersey number handwritten on their shirt, considering they won the NPFL title earlier this year and received N100 million," one of the supporters commented. Any potential financial issues the club might have had should have been mitigated by the money. The governor must to jump in as soon as feasible.
Yahya Jabrane's first-half penalty, which Enyimba's captain and goalkeeper, Ojo Olorunleke, missed in the 39th minute, proved to be the game's decisive factor.