2023 AFCON QUALIFIER will go ahead in Morocco despite deadly quake currently happening in
Marrakech
Gambia and Congo’s African Cup of Nations qualifier in Marrakech will go ahead as scheduled on Sunday.
This is in spite the powerful earthquake that struck the city on Friday night and which has so far killed more than 1,000 people and injured hundreds more.
However, Saturday’s match between Morocco and Liberia in Agadir, some 260-km away from the quake epicenter, has been postponed.
The Gambia and Congo squads spent the night sleeping beside their hotel pools after the magnitude 6.8 quake struck in the High Atlas mountains and damaged buildings in nearby Marrakech.
It was the country’s deadliest tremor in more than six decades.
Both coaches said their players were traumatised by the event but had been told they must go ahead with their match.
Sunday’s clash, which decides who qualifies along with Group G winners Mali, is being played in Marrakech because Gambia do not have a suitable stadium to host internationals.
“We have been told our match on Sunday must go ahead. It’s quite strange that the Morocco game is off but ours is not,” Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet told Reuters.
CAF have since confirmed the decision without comment.
“We have been outside for some 13-14 hours now,” added Saintfiet.
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