Monrovia—Liberia champions Watanga FC have again failed to go beyond the first round of the Confederation of African Football Champions League following their second leg defeat to Algerian champions, MC Alger.
By: Christopher C Walker [email protected] 0777898224/0886723075
Watanga, who opted to play both legs of the qualifier in Algeria lost the first leg 2-0 and a week later went down with a similar score which resulted in a 4-0 aggregate loss.
The Liberian side made their debut appearance in the CAF Inter-club competitions during the 2022-23 CAF Champions League preliminary qualifying series and got defeated on a 3-1 aggregate by then-Nigeria champions, River United.
Following their debut appearance in the CAF Champions League, the Liberian representative was paired against Stade De Malien of Mali during the 2023-24 season and eventually suffered a whopping 7-2 aggregate loss.
Hoping to make a comeback in the tournament, the Soldier Boys could not score a goal against the Algerian.
The 4-0 aggregate defeat means it’s the first time in history that Watanga FC have failed to score in any of the two legs of the CAF Inter-club competition.
Many football lovers and pundits have frowned at the Liberian club for not playing their home game in Liberia, but the club defended their decision, saying they decided to play away from home because of the opportunity to play several friendly matches in Algeria.
Ephraim Weah, a Liberian sports journalist wrote on Facebook that the club’s arrangements to have friendly matches didn’t work because the agent failed to get the work done.
He wrote “𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮 𝗙𝗖’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆.
Liberian 1st Division champions Watanga FC made a tough decision that will stick with them for a long time.
They chose to play their home match in the CAF Champions League qualifiers away against MC Alger FC.
Their decision was based on a promise from a match agent to organize international friendlies for them in Algeria, but those friendlies never happened. The plans they had for these friendlies vanished.”
Watanga FC faced a tough time in Algeria, conceding 4 goals across 180 minutes and failing to score any themselves.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐑𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐅𝐂 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦.
According to sources, Watanga FC decided to play away because it was expensive to host the match in Liberia.
Some people are questioning why it would cost them so much? Should Watanga FC be responsible for buying MC Alger FC’s tickets from Algeria to Liberia?
On the other hand, Watanga FC thought about playing in Algeria because they believed they could make more money from ticket sales there than at their usual stadium, the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex.
While the first match had a good turnout, the second match saw only 10% of the fans who watched the first 90 minutes show up.
Watanga FC’s choice to play away wasn’t the first in Liberian football history. It was unusual for a club to ignore their home ground in pursuit of higher earnings from ticket sales.
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