Eswatini Premier League side, Royal Leopard will host their second TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup Group B match away in Mpumalanga, South Africa, according to reports.
Royal Leopard will host Orlando Pirates on February 27 at the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga Province.
The development comes because Mavuso Sports Centre is undergoing renovations.
Mavuso was first banned in 2018, but both Mbabane Swallows and Royal Leopard had been allowed to use it with a special permit which did not cover the group stages of the continental competitions.
Leopard will also be forced to host all their three home games in the group stage at the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium as Mavuso won’t be ready soon.
“Eswatini Football Association (EFA) wishes to state that CAF has since communicated her decision to ban Mavuso Sports Centre, from hosting CAF “A” category matches, especially matches of the Senior National Team (Sihlangu) and Groups and knockout stages of CAF Interclub matches until the rectification of all the areas that were identified by CAF as deficient,” EFA said on Friday.
“This therefore means the forthcoming matches for Royal Leopard FC will be hosted outside the country in a venue that complies with the CAF standards.
“EFA is currently in engagement with her counterparts from the South African Football Association (SAFA) and various stadiums authorities in South Africa and CAF in order to identify CAF Compliant Stadiums that can host the forthcoming matches.
“Depending on the decision of CAF, the availability of the stadiums and other logistical requirements essential in the hosting of the international match a decision will be made by Tuesday, 22nd February 2022 on the venues to host the forthcoming matches.”
This will be a big blow for Leopard as they will have to play behind closed doors as supporters are still banned from attending football matches in South Africa.
Orlando Pirates started the group stage with a 1-0 win against Algerian side JS Souara last weekend.
