Rabat – Morocco will host the final of the TotalEnergies African Champions Leagues on May 30, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Monday.
In a statement, the CAF said it received a bid from both the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRFM) and the Senegalese Football Federation to host the 2022 CAF Champions League.
But Senegal later withdrew its bid, effectively making Morocco the only alternative. The exact venue for the match has yet to be announced, however.
The CAF also noted that it is currently discussing reverting to the old two-legged formula, instead of the current one-leg final, to determine the winner of the 2022 African Champions League.
The decision to make the final a single match was taken by the previous CAF committee in 2019.
Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca and Egypt’s Al ahly are most likely to qualify for the final after scoring significant victories in the first legs against Petro Luanda (3-1) and ES Setif (4-0) respectively.
The announcement of the hosting country came after the semi-finalists Al Ahly demanded on Sunday a neutral venue for the final after beating Algeria’s Entente Setif.
“The final should not be hosted by one of the countries of the four teams competing in the CAF Champions League semi-finals and a neutral venue will provide equal chances for the four teams,” the Egyptian club wrote in a letter sent to Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF. “Giving one of the four teams the home advantage in the final contradicts the fair play standards.”
Wydad Casablanca will play the second leg of its semi-final against Angola’s Petro de Luanda on Friday, May 13, at 8:00 p.m. Moroccan time.
Meanwhile, Al Ahly and Algeria’s Entente Setif will face off on May 14.
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