Coach Pitso Mosimane left Al Ahly months ago, but his exploits will ensure the Egyptian club’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup again.
Al Ahly were not supposed to participate in the Club World Cup this year, as the competition is for continental league champions.
However, the Egyptian giants will still represent the continent at the Club World Cup because this year’s edition of the competition has been pushed to 2023.
The change is due to the scheduling of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Al Ahly has released a statement confirming that they will represent Africa at the event scheduled for next February.
AL AHLY OFFICIAL STATEMENT…
“Al Ahly has received an official letter from FIFA on Friday stating the club will participate in the FIFA Club World Cup, to be held in Morocco between 1 and 11 February,” the statement reads.
“Al Ahly will participate in the competition for the third consecutive year and the eighth participation in history.”
Al Ahly missed out on the 2022 CAF Champions League title to Wydad Casablanca after losing 2-0 to the Moroccans in the final mid this year.
AL AHLY WILL STILL PLAY IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP, THANKS TO PITSO MOSIMANE
However, Al Ahly will play in the competition by virtue of having won the CAF Champions League in 2020 and 2021 under Pitso Mosimane.
Pitso Mosimane guided Al Ahly to the two Champions League titles and missed out on the third attempt after losing to Wydad.
This will be the eight time that the Club of the Century will take part in the world competition.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach guided Al Ahly to back-to-back bronze medal wins at the Club World Cup.
Mosimane quit Al Ahly in June and is now in charge of Al Ahli Saudi of Saudi Arabia.
AL AHLY TO JOIN FIFA WORLD CUP FROM FIRST ROUND
The only change is that Al Ahly will now join the Club World Cup from the first round and not in the advanced stages.
It means Al Ahly will face OFC Champions League winner Auckland City of New Zealand.
Overall, Al Ahly has won three Club World Cup bronze medals including that of the year 2006.
FIFA has since explained why the Club World Cup will take place in Morocco.
Many countries submitted bids to host the event but FIFA Council decided that Morocco will get the rights for hosting the competition.
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