In a surprising turn of events, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have annonced that the 2018 version of the CAF Super Cup would hold in Qatar. It would be the first time this is happening as all other Super Cup finals since its inception in 1993 till date have held on the African continent. The fixture pits the African Champions League winners – Esperance of Tunisia – against the African Confederation Cup champions – Raja Casablanca of Morocco.
The match is traditionally played at the home of the Champions League winners, although it has previously been played elsewhere in Africa. Caf confirmed that its executive committee had decided that the 2018 Super Cup would be played in Qatar – with the “date and time announced later”.
Esperance, who may have expected to host the match in Rades, have not officially commented as yet, but the news sparked a wave of anger amongst die-hard Esperance fans. “This is our 100th anniversary and we want to play this game here,” an ex-spokesperson for the Esperance said.
Khelil Chammam who will captain Esperance at UAE 2018 said “Winning the Champions League this year was special because it came in the club’s centenary year and against a big team, Al Ahly, “out of all the trophies we’ve won, this one is unique because we not only beat them, but we also played better than them. It was a happy day for Tunisia and for Esperance’s supporters, of course. It was an exceptional tournament for us.”
“I’m so fortunate to be an Esperance player. They’re a big name, not just in Tunisia, but throughout Africa. If I didn’t play here, I might not have had the chance to participate in the Club World Cup in 2011, and now again in 2018. That said, I’ll need to handle the large amount of responsibility placed on my shoulders, and hopefully we’ll record better results at this tournament compared to last time around in Japan.”
It is also worthy to note that Qatar would be the host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
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