The Confederation of African Football has responded to Al Ahly's Champions League final appeal by detailing why Morocco was chosen to host the tournament's deciding match.
African football's governing body has come in for some heavy criticism after controversially deciding to let the North African nation host the CAFCL final for the second year in a row.
This decision was questioned because Wydad Casablanca, a Moroccan team, already have a two-goal lead ahead of the second leg of their semi-final clash against Petro de Luanda.
As such, Pitso Mosimane's side, who have a commanding 4-0 lead in their own semi-final tie against ES Setif, urged the Egyptian Football Association to file an official complaint regarding the decision and support their request for the final to be played at a neutral venue.
With pressure increasing, CAF's head of operations and media relations Luxolo September has now explained why Morocco was chosen to host the tournament's decider.
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"Back in January, we spoke to all African countries, only Morocco and Senegal requested to host the final," he told Al-Hayah TV channel, per KingFut.
"Senegal then withdrew, leaving only Morocco as potential hosts, so the decision was simple.
"Every country could have applied, but they didn't. The date we choose the final venue was announced months ago.
"Al Ahly is a big club, but the decision is already made and everybody has to respect it. We are all professionals after all."
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