The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) has issued an official statement regarding the African Football League controversy that took place on Tuesday.
After Enyimba FC accused Moroccan authorities of using unfair tactics when the Nigerian side was left stranded in an airport for more than six hours, the RMFF has since insisted that the club had been granted licence to take flight.
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The Peoples' Elephant find themselves 1-0 down on aggregate heading into the second leg of their AFL quarter-final in Casablanca after Yahya Jabraine's successfully converted penalty gave Wydad AC the advantage on Sunday.
Originally scheduled to take each other on in the second leg on Wednesday afternoon, that clash was moved to Thursday evening after Enyimba's preparations for the encounter were interrupted, but the RMFF is adamant they were not at fault for the controversy.
"The Royal Moroccan Football Federation categorically denies the news circulated in some media regarding the Nigerian Enyimba team's plane not being authorised to land in Morocco," the organisation said in a statement.
"The Royal Moroccan Football University explains that the Air Transport Directorate received, on Monday, October 23, 2023, at 12:30 pm, a preliminary request from the Enyimba team to license a private plane.
"After receiving the request, the Air Transport Directorate asked the Nigerian Enyimba team to complete the necessary documents to obtain the license, which were sent in four batches, the first at 6:40 pm, the second at 8:30 am the next morning, and the third at 8 pm and 51 minutes in the morning, while the last batch of documents was sent at 9:36 in the morning.
"According to the Air Transport Directorate, granting the license requires sending all required documents 72 hours before the date of the flight.
"The Royal Moroccan Football Federation confirms that the Air Transport Directorate granted the Nigerian team's plane the license, after completing all the file documents."
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