By Danesius Marteh,
Algiers, Algeria, The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have instructed MC Alger to allow FC Fassell to train at the Ali Ammar Stadium at 19:00GMT on 26 September.
And in an email to match commissioner Yacoub Ali Elmi of Djibouti and sent to Fassell, CAF said the luminous treatment referred to by Alger applies to the pitch, which doesn’t affect its functionality for pre-match training.
“Based on the attached video received yesterday, the pitch appears to be in perfect condition, and there is no need to cancel the visiting team’s training session.
“Therefore, please coordinate with the stadium administration and the relevant local authorities so that Fassell FC’s training session can take place at the agreed time,” said CAF competitions division manager Ahmed Salem.
Alger had denied Fassell due to ongoing maintenance works, which began on 23 September, but was neither communicated to Fassell nor CAF.
CAF had asked Alger to explain why it denied Fassell from training at the stadium following an email by John after Fassell expressed its disappointment at a technical meeting on 26 September.
Per the regulations, Fassell must train at the stadium 24 hours to kick-off if it is natural grass and 48 hours for artificial turf.
During the technical meeting, Yacoub was shocked to have heard about Alger’s unilateral decision.
Fassell will take on Alger at 19:00GMT (8:00PM Algeria time) in a preliminary second leg match on 27 September in Algiers with all to play for, having drawn the first leg goalless at the Samuel Kanyon Doe sports complex in Paynesville on 20 September.
The match will be placed behind closed doors due to a CAF ban.
