Enugu Rangers have protested to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over the early kick-off of their Confederation Cup Group A home games, saying it will affect their performance as well as gate takings from the matches.
Rangers general manager Davidson Owumi said in an appeal letter to CAF that playing on an artificial pitch under high temperatures will be “punishing” for his team.
“We understand and appreciate the fact that CAF reserves the right to fix time for matches from the group stage of the club competition but we find it extremely difficult to factor in the 14.00 hours (2.00 pm) time it has picked for us due largely to the humidity of the season,” Owumi argued in the correspondence.
“Playing our scheduled matches at the time fixed will lead to loss of revenue, punishment for the players, who are the main actors on the pitch, and the spectators that would be sun-baked if they turn up for the matches with temperatures reaching as high as 40 degrees centigrade on an artificial field.”
He therefore suggested a later kick-off time of 4pm local time.
Rangers will play host to Egyptian club Pyramid in their first group game of the CAF Confederation Cup at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu on Sunday, December 1.
They are also drawn against another Egyptian club Al Masry as well as FC Nouadhibou from Mauritania.
