Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane. Photo by Fadi El Assaad – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

WATCH: Pitso hits out at AFCON, FIFA Club World Cup overlap

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane believes ‘Africa will always be compromised’ when it comes to the priority placed on certain competitions.

Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane. Photo by Fadi El Assaad – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly were without a host of first-choice players due to their participation with the Egyptian national side ahead of Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final against Senegal in Cameroon.

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In what was effectively a quarter-final match at the FIFA Club World Cup, Al Ahly did manage to claim a 1-0 win thanks to a 53rd minute winner from Mohamed Hany, and will now come up against Brazilian giants Palmeiras for a place in the final. The match is scheduled for Tuesday, 8 February with kick-off set for 18:30 SA time.

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Meanwhile, Led by Liverpool star Sadio Mane, Senegal overcame Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out at Sunday’s AFCON final in Cameroon.

Pitso has questioned how these two tournaments could possibly have been scheduled to take place at the same time

“CAF and FIFA arrange games on top of each other, it’s amazing. It’s unbelievable how this happens, it’s like nobody knew when the Cup of Nations was, and nobody knew when the FIFA Club World Cup was. But Africa will always be compromised when it comes to this. Now we play Palmeiras who are rested, and we have to play again… why did they not play earlier, what’s the criteria?

“Anyway, we’re not politicians, we talk about football, but those are the realities. The scale is not proper when it comes to Africa and Europe, that’s a fact. We can hide it, or prefer not to talk about it, but it’s a fact that’s there.”

In February 2021, under the tutelage of Mosimane, Al Ahly secured a bronze medal as they finished third in the tournament.

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