Cape Verde referees to handle Rayon vs Onze Creature match

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed Cape Verde referees to handle the CAF Confederation Cup first-round, first leg match between Rayon Sport and Mali’s Onze Creatures. Rayon Sport will travel to Mali for the first leg slated on March 11—the match will be played at Stade Modibo Keita in Bamako before hosting the second leg on March 18, at Amahoro national stadium. The three Cape Verde officials will be led by Antonio Manuel Fortes Rodrigues as the center referee while Jorge Santos Fonseca Aritson and Luis Fernandes Barbosa will be the first and second referees respectively. Reigning Peace Cup champions Rayon Sports will be gunning for a positive away result to help them finish the business at home soil. In the preliminary round, Djuma Masudi’s side eliminated Al Salam Wau of South Sudan 6-0 on aggregate after winning the first leg in Juba 4-0 before completing the job with a 2-0 win in Kigali. The seven-time Rwandan league champions are aiming at reaching the group stages for Africa’s second biggest football club competition for the first time since 2004 when the competition was established. Rayon Sports’ best achievement in a CAF competition was reaching the quarter-finals of CAF Cup in 2002, a competition that ceased to exist in 2004. It was played by domestic leagues runners-up of CAF member associations, who had not qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions; the African Cup of Champions Clubs or the African Cup Winners’ Cup. editorial@newtimes.co.rw