Heartland FC of Owerri will head back home to Nigeria on Sunday after they were left unattended to at Libraville by both the Gabonese football authorities and officials of Union Sportif Bitam, since arriving Gabon on Saturday afternoon.
The club’s Media Officer, Cajetan Nkwopara, said neither the Gabon Football Federation nor the opponent, Union Sportif Bitam, showed up at the airport to welcome the team despite having knowledge of their arrival plan and the hitches, which led to the delayed arrival.
The CAF Confederation Cup second leg encounter between Union Sportif Bitam and Heartland FC was scheduled to hold on the weekend of April 5, 6 and 7, 2013.
Heartland FC, plagued by both visa and flight hitches, could only arrive Gabon on April 6, 2013, which was the day the host had chosen to play the match.
But the officials of Union Sportif Bitam allegedly dodged the Nigerian opponents at the Libraville airport and later claimed that they had conducted a walk-over on Heartland FC.
Nkwopara said Heartland FC had kept CAF and their would-be hosts regularly updated on their travails and the final decision to arrive April 6, 2013 with the hope that in the spirit of fair-play, Union Sportif Bitam would have the match shifted by just one day to Sunday, which still falls within the Confederation of Africa Football three-day window match dateline.
He said Union Sportif Bitam’s claim of a walk-over was premised on wrong notion and interpretation of the rules since Heartland FC were able to arrive more than 24 hours before the expiration of the CAF match dateline of April 7, 2013.
Heartland FC, he said, have already communicated their position on the matter to the Nigeria Football Federation, which is now channeling the complaint to CAF.
Meanwhile, Heartland FC have expressed gratitude to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State for coming to the rescue of the team by way of sending two chartered aircrafts to convey the team from Lagos to Libraville on Saturday after the team’s initial effort secure flights tickets for the travel failed.
While also thanking the people of Imo State in particular and Nigerians in general for their immense support and solidarity at this ‘time of trials,’ Heartland FC also appealed to their fans to remain calm until CAF is able to respond to the case that is being sent before it.
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