Extended CAF Confederation Cup Campaign Leaves Orlando Pirates With Fixture Rescheduling Nightmare

• Orlando Pirates are enjoying a successful cup run in the CAF Confederation Cup and are one game away from the finals
• Orlando are unable to honour fixtures against Royal AM and Maritzburg United due to the participation in the CAF Confederation Cup
• The Premier Soccer League are currently working on solutions regarding Orlando Pirates fixture congestion nightmare

Orlando Pirates could be forced to play their remaining DStv Premiership fixtures after the season ends.

The Buccaneers’ current run in the CAF Confederation Cup has thrown the fixture schedule into disarray and left the Sowetan giants with no indication of when they will be able to honour their remaining fixtures.

Pirates were due to play Royal AM over the weekend but the game had to be postponed due to the first leg semi-final tie in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The Buccaneers were also scheduled to play Maritzburg United this coming weekend, but have their second leg fixture to contest. Should they progress to the finals of the tournament, they will also be unable to play their last fixture of the season against SuperSport United.

Cape Town City and Kaizer Chiefs prepare for rescheduled match, all signs point toward the game going ahead

Football

Pirates already have one foot in the final of the tournament after beating Al Ahli Tripoli 2-0 in the first leg, Soccer Laduma reported.

With a place in the final almost wrapped up, Pirates’ DStv Premiership campaign could be extended beyond the season, Sowetan LIVE reported. The Buccaneers’ campaign will in turn affect Royal AM, Maritzburg United and SuperSport United, who all will have one fixture remaining.

The rescheduling nightmare will also affect a long-standing Premier Soccer League (PSL) tradition.

The PSL schedule the penultimate games and the final games of the season to all start at the same time. This will not be the case with Pirates unavailable to play.

The PSL’s media manager Fhatuwani Mpfuni confirmed that the league was working on a number of scenarios to find solutions to the fixture problem.

Orlando Pirates thoroughly outplays Al Ahly Tripoli in first leg of CAF Confederations Cup semifinal in Libya

Cape Town City beat Kaizer Chiefs, Amakhosi’s DStv Premiership slump continues with fourth defeat in a row

Football

Orlando Pirates was too good for Al Ahly Tripoli in the first leg of the CAF Confederations Cup at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Tripoli, Sports Brief earlier reported.

The Buccaneers thoroughly outplayed Tripoli in a 2-0 victory. An eighth-minute goal from Innocent Maela and another from Goodman Mosele set the visitors on their way to what was a thoroughly convincing defeat of the visitors.

What did not hurt was that Ahly Tripoli fans were not allowed into the venue for hitherto unknown reasons, which Pirates took advantage of. There was also a matter of floodlight failure in the dying stages of the match, though there was nothing sinister about this turn of events.