Marumo Gallants will feel encouraged about their chances of progressing past the group stages in the CAF Confederation Cup after FC St-Eloi Lupopo decided to take their home games outside DR Congo.
Lupopo have taken their CAF home games across the border to the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in neighbouring Zambia which is 250km away from their base at the Stade Frederic Kibassa Maliba in Lubumbashi.
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In doing so they have turned down the option of using the home ground of their eternal rivals TP Mazembe which has been approved by CAF and is just four kilometres away.
TP Mazembe have already played and won at their facility in their Confederation Cup group stages opener against Real Bamako on Sunday.
Lupopo will host Marumo on Sunday at the venue in Ndola, which has friendlier conditions as an English-speaking country than what they would have met in hostile Lubumbashi.
"At the end of the new inspection tour made by CAF, the Kibassa Maliba and Martyrs stadiums - 1st and 2nd choice of FC St Eloi Lupopo - did not finally receive the approval of the continental body to host the meetings for African interclub competitions.
"Therefore, the club's sporting committee, after meeting urgently to decide on this case, has chosen the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola, Zambia to host its group stage home matches in the CAF Confederation Cup (C2)," Daniel Ngoy Ndongo, the director of communications at Lupopo tells KickOff.com.
Marumo – who won their opener against Al-Akhdar from Libya playing at Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto – travel to Algeria after their match against Lupopo.
Two other clubs from DR Congo playing in CAF club competitions – AS Vita Club and DC Motema Pembe – are also in the same boat as Lupopo.
With both the Stade Tata Raphael and nearby Stade des Martyrs (both in Kinshasa) not meeting CAF requirements, Vita Club have opted to set up across the Congo River at the Stade Alphonse Masamba in Brazzaville for their Champions League home matches.
The other DR Congo in the Confederation Cup, DC Motema Pembe, who also used the facilities in Kinshasa have chosen the Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, Angola which is 800km away.
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