Bakary Jammeh, an executive member of the club, confirmed yesterday that they understood that the African football governing body (Caf) has asked BYC to search for a foreign venue for their home match in the preliminary round of the champions league. “Yes we know about Caf’s intervention on the return leg which must now be staged on a venue other than Liberia because of the Ebola crisis,” Jammeh said.
Asked if there have been any changes to the first leg too which opens in Banjul on the weekend of February 13-15, Jammeh said that fixture will go ahead in Banjul as scheduled and Real is preparing to host the Liberians here. ‘Unless we hear otherwise, that fixture still stands,” he concluded.
The tie has always been in doubt since the draw was done last month because of Liberia’s battle with the Ebola virus which resulted in a ban on all football activities there.
Liberian FA secretary general Alphonso Armah confirmed the Caf directive in an interview with Insight Sports saying they are disturbed by the news.
“It is sad news for football in Liberia. BYC wants to play in front of their supporters, but the match will have to be shifted to a foreign land and we can do nothing but to support our clubs. We didn’t look for Ebola; it is a sickness that we did not expect”, Armah lamented.
Additional reporting by Mandu Sanneh
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