Rivers United chairman Okey Kpalukwu has expressed his unhappiness over his club’s inability to play their CAF Confederation Cup home games in Rivers state.
Rivers United will host their home games at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo for the second season in a row after the Confederation of African Football rejected the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.
The Rivers United chairman said his players and coaching crew can win the 2023-2024 edition of the tournament but that wouldn’t happen if they keep playing their home games away from home.
Kpalukwu claimed that the turf in Kumasi was no better than that in Port Harcourt after Rivers’ Sunday 2-1 loss to Dreams FC of Ghana in Kumasi. Hence, he bemoaned what he believed was an unfair procedure in the competition’s clearance process.
“My pitch at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt is better than several other pitches that I (we) played on, in the continent, including that of Sunday’s game in Kumasi, Ghana, yet CAF approved it for the club because they have their people upstairs protecting their interests in CAF,” the Rivers United chairman said.
“There’s no place like one’s home ground, we want Nigerians, including our fans in Port Harcourt to come out en masse and be saved the stress of traveling outside of Rivers State to support us. We will once again appeal through the appropriate channel, the Nigeria Football Federation interface with CAF to allow us to play in Port Harcourt because our stadium meets all their requirements.”
