New date, neutral venue for Rivers United vs Bloemfontein Celtic Confed Cup tie

The Confederation of African Football has rescheduled the CAF Confederation Cup second leg between Rivers United and South Africa’s Bloemfontein Celtic for the weekend of 22 January to 24 January.

The match was initially billed for Port Harcourt last week but Bloemfontein Celtic were not allowed to enter Nigeria, where all travel from South Africa has been severely restricted due to a new, more dangerous strain of coronavirus.

Rivers United won the first leg 2-0 in Bloemfontein.

The second leg will now be played in a country close to Nigeria with easier access for travellers arriving from South Africa.

The South African Football Federation explained the process for the new date.

“The decision to reschedule the match comes after SAFA reached out to CAF to seek guidance on the matter after Celtic’s initial appeal to the Nigerian FA and Nigerian government was turned down,” SAFA said in a statement on Monday.

“The Nigerian Football Federation is to decide and communicate the venue, date, kick-off-time and the approval of the neutral host association by 12 January 2021 at the latest.

“The additional player registration period starts on the 10th of January 2021, the two teams shall not be allowed to field any of the players registered during this period for this match.”

The winners of the tie have been drawn to play CAF Champions League dropouts Enyimba of Nigeria in the play-offs for the group stage of the Confederation Cup.