Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town will participate in the Caf Confederations Cup after receiving assurances from the South African Football Association with regards to the safety of the team in Angola this weekend.
The Urban Warriors announced last week that they are withdrawing from the competition after failing to receive vital travel information from the Angolan Football Federation for their trip to Dundo in the north-east of the country to take on Sagrada Esperanca on Saturday.
Ajax said in a statement at the time that their main concern was “the safety of the players. With no definite logistical plan, no specs of the aircraft and no guarantee of times, we were unable to secure insurance for our trip. It is the responsibility of Angola to ensure internal travel, but they have been unwilling, despite our numerous requests by e-mail and fax, to give us details of our internal flights”.
The club said that the airport in Dundo, some 1 200km outside the capital of Luanda on the west coast, was closed due to construction work, while the nearest alternative airport in Lucapa had a landing strip made of gravel, which meant that not all types of aircraft would be able to land there.
They couldn’t get their by road from Luanda as “Confederation of African Football competition rules state no bus trip may exceed 200km to and from the venue where the match is to take place”.
Since then, they held a meeting with Safa, who provided Ajax with the necessary information to “appease the club with regards to the safety of the players and travelling staff”.
Roger de Sa’s team will travel to Angola on Friday morning, but before that, they have a vital Absa Premiership clash to negotiate against the high-riding Mpumalanga Black Aces on Wednesday night at Athlone Stadium (7.30pm kickoff).
Aces are third on the log, just a point adrift of Wits and seven behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, and the Capetonians will have to deal with the league’s top scorer in veteran Collins Mbesuma, who has an incredible 11 goals to his name – four ahead of Ajax’s own Prince Nxumalo, Sundowns’ Khama Billiat and Thobani Mncwango of Polokwane City.
In addition, Aces are coached by former Ajax boss Muhsin Ertugral, which will add further spice to the encounter. “Aces have really been the team of the season. They resemble a little bit the Leicester City of our league here,” De Sa on the club website.
“They’ve really done well. I didn’t expect them to do this well to be honest, after last season. But Muhsin (Ertugral) has done a fantastic job, he’s got them playing to their strengths, he’s revitalised a couple of their players, and they really look good.”
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