CAF insisted that it will keep the 2021-22 CAF Champions League final in Casablanca, Morocco despite large scale protests from Egyptian club Al Ahly, who declared their intent to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to the venue violating the principles of Fair Play. Ahly are widely expected to meet Wydad Casablanca in the final, putting the Egyptian giants and CAFCL holders at a disadvantage against the Moroccan side with the match set to take place at Wydad’s home stadium.
There was talk of CAF perhaps returning to a home-and-away format for the final and having it take place over two legs but CAF stated publicly that FIFA regulations prevent the changing of a competition’s format while it is being played. The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) submitted its own bid to host but CAF rejected it with the deadline for bids having long passed. Senegal was the other candidate who submitted a viable bid to host the match but the Senegalese Football Federation withdrew.
