Al Ahly’s president Mahmoud El-Khatib has explained why he didn’t accept an invite to meet CAF president Patrice Motsepe to discuss the hosting of the CAF Champions League final.
El-Khatib held a press conference on Saturday, explaining Al Ahly’s disappointment with the Confederation of African Football awarding Morocco to host the CAFCL final.
Among many topics discussed, ‘Captain Bibo’ reiterated several times that the club’s criticism is not a directed at Motsepe, but rather questioning CAF’s decision-making overall.
El-Khatib also explained that he rejected an invite to meet Motsepe in the build-up of the final.
“I received a friendly phone call asking to hold a video conference on Zoom with CAF’s president, Patrice Motsepe,” El-Khatib explained as translated in into English by the club’s social media accounts.
“I informed them that I fully respect Mr. Motsepe; however, CAF needs to respond officially to Al Ahly’s requests because that is not a personal issue but an issue that is related to the club.
“We didn’t receive a response from their side. So, we sent another letter requesting a meeting between Al Ahly’s legal representative and an official representative from CAF to find a solution for the club’s fair demands. However, we also did not receive a response.”
While Khatib has tried to refrain from directly criticising Motsepe, pointing out his personal and the club’s good relationship with the CAF president, Pitso Mosimane directly blamed the CAF boss for the loss in the CAFCL final.