Nigeria Professional Football League side Rivers United may miss their CAF Confederation Cup Preliminary Round 2 tie against Bloemfontein Celtic, following the delay in issuing visas to players and officials of the team by the South African Embassy.
Celtic will host Rivers at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Wednesday, while the second leg will be held in Port Harcourt January 6, 2021.
Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Sports, Honour Sirawoo, told our correspondent on Thursday that the Port Harcourt-based side met all demands by the South African Embassy, but were still not issued visas.
“Up till this moment, we (officials and players) have not been granted visas by the South African Embassy in Abuja. One of our officials is still at the embassy in Abuja and we are hoping that it will be sorted out so that we can travel tomorrow (Friday),” Sirawoo told The PUNCH.
Rivers defeated Equatoguinean side Futuro Kings on penalties in the Preliminary Round 1 after losing 2-1 away and winning by the same margin at home.
Also speaking with our correspondent, Rivers United media officer, Charles Mayuku, said the club might miss the only available flight to South Africa if they were not issued visas on time.
“We have been able to get one flight for tomorrow (today), but we cannot go if we are not through with the embassy, that’s why efforts are being made to ensure that it is taken care of,” Mayuku told newsmen
“CAF has been informed and NFF has been alerted that we are making sure that the embassy clears us because we have met every requirement they asked from us and we still don’t know why we aren’t getting clearance to travel.”
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