Victoria United’s President, Valentin Nkwain, has attributed his team’s CAF Champions League preliminary round defeat on Sunday to FC Samartex to player unavailability and licensing issues.
The Cameroonian side lost 1-0 to Samartex FC at the Japoma Stadium on Sunday, with Emmanuel Mamah scoring the decisive goal.
The match was delayed for 50 minutes due to administrative problems, as most of Victoria United’s players faced issues with their CAF registration, yet were still included in the matchday squad.
“We played with thirteen players, some weren’t match fit. Some people didn’t do their job well, not in my office but outside and the club didn’t get the licenses,” Valentin said.
“It’s a bit difficult when you’re making your match plans and you get to the stadium at 3pm and the match commissioner announces that only thirteen players can play.”
“I wondered why we weren’t informed before but this happened. You saw how we went on the field. If I had my whole team, we would have won,” he added
Samartex will host Victoria United in the return fixture on Sunday, August 25, at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The winner of both legs will progress to the second preliminary round, where they could potentially face Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca for a place in the group stages.
By: Gbordzor Promise
