By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 5 – Cairo club Ahly have announced that they will now be staging their matches at the Al Salam stadium.
As Africa’s most successful club, with 19 continental titles – eight of them in the Champions’ League – and having millions of active supporters, the announcement of Wednesday’s decision, by club president Mahmoud El-Khatib, to move to a ground with a capacity for only 30,000 people, took supporters of the club by surprise.
When El-Khatib, a former player and legend of Ahly and African football, took over the leadership of the club with the current board, two years ago, a campaign promise made to the voting members of Ahly was that the club was going to build a sports complex, including a new stadium, for the club, at 6th October City, which is about an hour from Central Cairo.
El-Khatib reiterated the campaign promise but said that the club would make the Al-Salam stadium its home until the project is complete, after which their contract to stage matches at the new venue will terminate.
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