Rayon Sports team that travelled to Libya.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has approved that Rayon Sports and Al-Hilal Benghazi will play their two-legged tie of CAF Confederation Cup second round at Kigali Pele Stadium after the first leg was put off due to flooding that hit Libya on September 10.
The two sides had before negotiated to decide the postponement of their first leg. They then requested CAF to reschedule the two legs at Kigali Pele Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, for dates to be determined, which the African governing body ratified.
“Due to tragedy and flooding that struck Libya, the second preliminary round contest of CAF Confederation Cup between Rayon Sports and Al Hilal-Benghazi on Friday, September 15, 2023, has been postponed,” reads the Rayon Sports’ statement.
Rayon Sports had already arrived in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday morning geared up to battling it out with the Benghazi-based club on Friday at the 10,550-seat Martyrs of Benina Stadium.
The Blues and Whites left the Kigali International Airport for Benghazi around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, flying directly to Addis Ababa. They then took another flight to Cairo before continuing on to Benghazi, where they safely landed on Wednesday morning.
The second leg tie is still scheduled for September 30, with new dates are yet to be communicated by the sides.
Thousands of people are still missing after two disastrous dams collapsed on Sunday and led to massive flooding. Local Libyan officials confirmed on Tuesday evening that the death toll has exceeded 5,300. Meanwhile, reports indicate that nearly 3,000 people have perished and 5,530 injured in the earthquake that struck their neighbour Morocco on Friday, September 8.
Al-Hilal advanced to the second round of CAF Confederation Cup by beating Kenya’s Kakamega Homeboyz with a 4-1 aggregate score thanks to a significant 4-1 second leg victory after the two teams played out a goalless first leg.
Whilst, Rayon Sports were exempted from the first preliminary round due to their stellar performance in the 2018 campaign where they reached the competition’s group stages.
