Libyan side Al Tahidi have finally agreed to play Ghanaian champions Aduana Stars in the second-leg of their CAF Champions League clash after rejecting Dormaa Ahenkro as Wednesday’s venue for the game.
An intervention by the Ghana FA with full assurances of a police motorcade on their journey from Kumasi to Dormaa and back ensured the Libyan reversed their threat of not playing the match.
The Libyan had threatened not to play the match in the Brong Ahafo region citing the road travelling distance from Kumasi to Dormaa Ahenkro of more than 200km violating CAF rules.
The CAF rules state that home teams must ensure that visiting teams travel by air from the capital of the country if the road journey is more than 200km.
With no airport in Dormaa Ahenkro, it is impossible to fly the team by air from Kumasi.
Al Tahidi insisted on playing the match in Kumasi or Accra where their travel would fall in line with CAF requirements or would refuse to play the match and file a protest.
The threat of not playing the match forced the Ghana FA to dispatch two of its top officials Alex Asante and Osei Tutu from Accra to Kumasi where the Libyans are based to make overtures.
The mediation by the GFA yielded results with the Libyans now agreeing to travel to play the match in Dormaa Ahenko as the home side spent millions in putting their stadium in shape.
Al Tahidi will be driven to Sunyani on Tuesday at 9am by bus in the company of a dispatch rider full with police security.
They will stay at Sunyani and train at Dormaa on Tuesday evening and come back to Sunyani from where they will travel to play the game on Wednesday.
The police dispatch rider and bus will take the Al Tahidi to Kumasi after the game from where they will be flown to Accra by African World Airlines so that they connect to Tripoli on Thursday morning at 11:30am.
This intervention by the GFA ensured that the Libyans changed their minds as the rules were stacked against Aduana. The millions spent by the owner of the club to put the stadium in shape of the match would have gone to waste and most importantly they could have lost the match in the board room.
Aduana will be seeking to overturn their 1-0 deficit from the first leg at the refurbished Nana Agyemang Badu Park with the full support of their teeming fans.
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