Chiefs still unclear on Morocco trip
With time to confirm whether their upcoming CAF Champions League group clash with Waydad Casablanca will go ahead at a neutral venue almost up, Kaizer Chiefs are still waiting for the green light to travel for the fixture.
With the match set to take place on 13 February the Glamour Boys received notice that the Moroccan government were not going to allow the South African side access to travel to the North African country.
"The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) sent a letter to the CAF Clubs Committee informing it that the Moroccan authorities decided not to allow the Wydad Casablanca match with the South African Kaizer Chiefs team to be held on February 13th in Casablanca for the first round of the African Champions League," the RMFF said in a statement. "This is due to health and safety related to the recent developments of Covid-19.
"The Royal Moroccan Football Federation called on the Confederation of African Football to postpone the match, or hold it in another country if this is not possible."
Chiefs were due to fly out to Morocco on Wednesday but were hamstrung from departing after members of the touring party were not issued visa's in time to travel.
"After the draw and the fixture announcement, Kaizer Chiefs made all the necessary arrangements to travel including booking flights, securing accommodation, submission of visa applications and everything that is required for the trip," the club said in a statement earlier this week.
"Following the submission of the application for visas, the club has been in constant communication with CAF, the Moroccan Embassy in SA, South African Embassy in Morocco, SAFA, Wydad Casablanca, the Moroccan football association and the Department of International Relations and Corporation (DIRCO) to ensure that the application for visas is processed and approved.
"Wydad did confirm that they are awaiting confirmation from their Ministry of Health to grant Kaizer Chiefs special permission to enter the country because South Africa is on the list of countries that have been banned from entering Morocco due of the high numbers of the Covid-19 infections. No response has been received by Wydad or Kaizer Chiefs to this effect."
The situation has not become any clearer with the club still waiting to be given the go-ahead to fly out.
"The club remains in limbo as all lines of communication seem to have been shut down as the club and SAFA have not received any correspondence from the Moroccan authorities on this matter," they mentioned in another statement on Wednesday.
"We will continue to collaborate with SAFA and the SA Embassy in Morocco to try and engage CAF so that we can get the matter resolved.
"The club is still waiting for the issuing of visas and will once again attempt to obtain visas from the Moroccan Embassy in Pretoria tomorrow (Thursday) morning."
The fixture is a historic one for Chiefs as it will be their first group match in the CAF Champions League.
