Seychelles authorities issued a letter and an official statement saying Bazar Brothers were not permitted to fly because of health concerns linked to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC. The club says CAF was told two weeks ago that the delegation could not travel and proposed moving the fixture to a neutral country, including Tanzania. Those proposals, according to the Seychelles side, were ignored.
CAF insisted the first leg should be honoured in the DRC. Bazar Brothers never left the islands. The match, listed for Sunday against Virunga, was therefore not played.
Congolese reports said the fixture had been scheduled at the TP Mazembe Stadium in Lubumbashi. Virunga attended the official pre-match press conference and the technical meeting. CAF’s match commissioner recorded the absence of the Seychelles delegation. Neither team went to the stadium.
Virunga and the Congolese federation, FECOFA, are waiting for CAF’s formal ruling. A walkover in favour of the Goma club is the outcome many in the DRC expect. The Seychelles government has said it is prepared to challenge CAF over the handling of the case.
The tie sits in a preliminary round already marked by relocated “home” games for Sudanese clubs. Health restrictions and travel bans are not new to African club football this year; what is new here is an island federation telling CAF it will not send a team into an outbreak zone and then staying put.
Until CAF publishes a decision, the sporting question is unanswered: whether Virunga advance by forfeit, whether the first leg is restaged, or whether a deeper dispute follows. Sunday produced no football. It produced a file for the confederation’s legal department.