CAF: Nigeria’s continental hopes dashed as Al Ittihad eliminates Enyimba

Nigeria’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Enyimba have been eliminated by the refusal of their opponents, Al Ittihad of Libya to extend the date of the first leg play-off fixture. It will be noted that Enyimba was scheduled to play the Libyans yesterday but the People’s Elephant had pleaded for an extension of […]

Nigeria’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, Enyimba have been eliminated by the refusal of their opponents, Al Ittihad of Libya to extend the date of the first leg play-off fixture.

It will be noted that Enyimba was scheduled to play the Libyans yesterday but the People’s Elephant had pleaded for an extension of the date of the match to enable them to make the journey, which according to them was not possible within 48 hours of receiving the notification from CAF.

Al Itihad had lost the second leg of the play-off 2-0 in Aba last week after the first leg could not hold in Tunisia the former adopted home ground for Al Ittihad a fortnight ago due to COVID-19 restrictions in Benghazi.

However, CAF ruled that Enyimba’s plea for rescheduling could only be possible if their opponents accept the shift. Al Itihad rejected the plea and Enyimba was consequently eliminated.

With this development, all four Nigerian clubs that entered the 2022 CAF Interclub competitions – Akwa United, Rivers United (Champions League) and Enyimba FC, Bayelsa United (Confederation Cup) all failed to progress to the group stages.

The draw for the group stages in both competitions will hold on Tuesday, December 28, 2021.