Enyimba crash out of CAF Champ League, Rivers United await decision in Confed Cup

NIGERIA will not be represented in the group stages of the CAF Champions League this year after Enyimba of Aba got eliminated from the competition on Wednesday.

The two-time African champions defeated Al Merrikh of Sudan 2-1 in Aba in the second leg of their qualifying round tie but it was not enough to see them through.

Enyimba had lost the first leg 3-0 in Omdurman and thus crashed out on 4-2 aggregate score.

The Aba Elephant fell behind at the Enyimba Stadium on Wednesday before rallying back to claim the ultimately futile second-leg win.

The game got off to a quick start with both sides scoring within the first 14 minutes.

The visitors took the lead just six minutes in, but Enyimba levelled up eight minutes later through Victor Mbaoma.

Enyimba then took the lead just four minutes into the second half as Mbaoma converted a penalty that was awarded for a foul on Samad Kadiri, giving themselves hope of a fightback.

However, despite having 50 minutes to score the three goals they needed to advance, Enyimba could not score anymore.

Enyimba join Plateau United and Kano Pillars in getting eliminated early from African competitions this season.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s only club still left in Africa, Rivers United, could be sent packing too through no fault of theirs.

The Port Harcourt club beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-0 in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup tie but was prevented from finishing the job at home due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Because of a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 that is prevalent in South Africa, the Nigerian government has placed severe travel restrictions on the country.

Bloemfontein Celtic sought a waiver in order to be able to play in Port Harcourt but the government did not budge and the match was called off on Tuesday.

The Confederation of African Football will now make a ruling on the match, and they could award it to the South African side.

“Nigeria Football Federation last night stated that the South African delegation cannot be exempted from the required quarantine: the match shall not take place as scheduled, Wednesday, January 6, 2021,” CAF explained via Twitter on Tuesday.

“The case will be submitted to a competent body within CAF to decide on the appropriate course of action to follow. And decision shall be communicated in due time.”