Orlando Pirates lose potential home advantage as African Stars choose Botswana venue

Orlando Pirates will have to travel for the first leg of their CAF Champions League second preliminary-round tie against African Stars after the Namibian club confirmed a change of venue.

The match will be played at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone on Saturday, October 17 at 15:00 Namibian time.

African Stars had been expected to use the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Tshwane, where they hosted their previous CAF Champions League home match. That possibility would have allowed both games in the tie to take place in South Africa.

Namibia currently has no venue approved by CAF for the competition, which forced African Stars to stage their first-round home fixture in South Africa.

The prospect of remaining in the country had appeared to favour Pirates, with coach Abdeslam Ouaddou saying the reduced travel would benefit his team.

“The good news is we stay in South Africa for both games, this is good news, not good news because we are playing that team,” Ouaddou said.

“It is another game, we have to respect all the opponents. For us to stay here is less kilometres to travel because to get to West Africa, it is far, you need two to three days, and you still have to prepare for the league game.”

That potential advantage has now disappeared, with African Stars confirming that their home fixture against the Buccaneers will instead be staged in Botswana.

Pirates, also known as the Sea Robbers, must therefore make the journey to Gaborone for the opening match of the tie before the return fixture.

How both clubs reached the second preliminary round

The Soweto club booked its place in the next round by beating Mauritian side La Cure Waves 3-1 on aggregate.

African Stars advanced after drawing 3-3 on aggregate with Gabonese outfit Mangasport. They progressed on the away-goals rule.