Kaizer Chiefs have been forced to postpone their trip to Morocco by a day after officials at the North Africa country’s embassy failed to issue them with visas.
Amakhosi were set to leave late on Wednesday, ahead of their opening CAF Champions League group match against Wydad Athletic in Casablanca on Saturday.
But they had to move their travel arrangements to Thursday after their officials returned from the Moroccan embassy in Pretoria without visas for the travelling party.
The Soweto giants insisted that all the necessary arrangements for flights and accommodation had been made timeously after the CAF interclub competitions draw and the fixtures announcement in Cairo, Egypt, last month.
“After all the planning and waiting at the Moroccan embassy in Pretoria, the club have still not been issued with visas required for entry into Morocco for our maiden CAF group stage match against Wydad Athletic,” the club said in a statement.
Read: Where are our visas? Chiefs demand answers ahead of trip to Morocco
“We remain 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. We will continue to collaborate with Safa and the South African embassy in Morocco to try and engage CAF so that we can get the matter resolved.”
Chiefs said officials would return to the embassy on Thursday morning to follow up on the visa applications.
There was already suspicion that the delay was a ploy to unsettle Chiefs or that the Moroccans were simply taking advantage of the Covid-19 travel restrictions to frustrate the Amakhosi.
Chiefs are in Group C which includes Wydad, Petro Atlético of Angola and Guinea’s Horoya AC.
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