CAF Champions League Final First Leg Rescheduled: Sundowns to Host AS FAR on Sunday, May 17 in Pretoria
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reportedly set to officially confirm a change to the date of the CAF Champions League final first leg between South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and Morocco's AS FAR. The match is now expected to take place on Sunday, May 17, instead of the originally scheduled Friday, May 15.
Al-Botola has learned that CAF provisionally notified both clubs of the new date. This follows a request from the South African representative to adjust the final's schedule and postpone it by 48 hours, citing difficulties in hosting the match on Friday as initially set by CAF.
Consultations are currently underway between the involved parties to agree on the kick-off time. Sundowns is reportedly keen to play the match at 1 PM GMT, while AS FAR has requested an evening kick-off, following the change of date from Friday to Sunday.
It is worth noting that Al-Botola was the first to report on the potential for a change in the date of the first leg of the final in South Africa, based on information from sources within the African Football Confederation.
According to well-placed sources, CAF has settled on adjusting the date of the CAF Champions League final first leg, which will see AS FAR face Sundowns at the latter's stadium in Pretoria.
Information obtained by Al-Botola from its sources within CAF indicates that Sundowns rejected playing the first leg on Friday, May 15, at home against AS FAR.
CAF also received communications from Sundowns stating the difficulty of holding the match on the date initially set by the African Union, as it was deemed unsuitable for the South African team, which aims to ensure a large fan presence at a full Loftus Versfeld Stadium.
Sundowns is seeking to hold the match at 2 PM South African time. If it were to be played on Friday, the team would be forced to play in the evening, circumstances which the South African representative considered unsuitable for a final, a view that CAF recently agreed with.
Regarding the second leg in Rabat, no change will occur. It remains scheduled for May 24 at 8 PM at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
