CAF Champions League: Kotoko claim victory after Nouadhibou clash is called off again

Ghanaian side Asante Kotoko claim they have progressed to the next round of the Caf Champions League after a rescheduled preliminary stage fixture against Mauritanian outfit Nouadhibou was called off once again on Sunday.

According to a post from the club on social media, they have been declared 2-0 winners of the second leg fixture at the Accra Sports Stadium despite not kicking a ball.

The Porcupine Warriors, thus, secure a 3-1 aggregate qualification to the first round of the continental inter-club championship, the first leg in Mauritania having ended in a 1-1 draw last week.

Sunday's game was cancelled after two Nouadhibou players - over whom a misunderstanding ensued regarding claims of being coronavirus positive on Saturday, leading to the cancellation of the game - returned positive results again on a re-test on the day of the match.

"Asante Kotoko has been declared 2:0 winners against FC Nouadhibou in the 2nd leg of the [Caf Champions League]

"We therefore qualify to the next round with a 3:1 aggregate in our favour."

The Kotoko-Nouadhibou second leg fixture was originally scheduled for Saturday but was called off after a delay of over an hour.

The cancellation occurred following the visitors' refusal to honour the game after two of their 16-man travelling squad were confirmed positive for coronavirus following a mandatory Caf test.

The Mauritanians refused to recognise the outcome of the test on suspicion of collusion between Kotoko and the match officials, as they claimed both players passed an initial test conducted at the airport on their arrival in Ghana.

After several minutes of disagreement, the match officials called off the game amid speculations Kotoko would be declared winners of the tie.

Continental football's governing body, however, released a statement on Saturday evening, ordering that the match be played on Sunday.

"Following the events that took place before the kick-off of the match today which resulted in the evacuation of the stadium and the match not being played, kindly note that the match is rescheduled to be played tomorrow, the 6th of December 2020 at 15:00 in Accra Sports Stadium," the Caf statement reads, as published by the Ghana Football Association.

"Both teams are urgently requested to redo the PCR test on Saturday, 5th of December 2020, under the supervision of the appointed Caf Medical Officer.

"FC Nouadhibou are free to do the PCR test at any of the Government approved labs in Accra, also under the supervision of the appointed Caf Medical Officer.

"The results of the new PCR tests for both teams will be binding and the match will not be further postponed after that."

Reports indicate Nouadhibou officials once again rejected the outcome of Sunday's positive test results, leading to a refusal to honour the game.

Only players of Kotoko and the match officials walked out of the tunnel for the commencement of the game, after which the referee whistled to call off the game over a no-show on the part of the Mauritanians.