KHARTOUM, April 26, 2022 - A leaked video clip from Sudan caused controversy pointing major accusations against the Egyptian club Al-Ahly, the holder of the African Champions League title for the last two years. The leaked video of the deputy of the Sudanese Al-Merrikh club, Mohamed Ahmed, in which he says that his club had received a promise from the Egyptian Al-Ahly Club, to miss matches in the group stage of the African Champions League and for team Sudan matches to be held home in Khartoum instead of Cairo.

AFRICA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RECAP Al-Merrikh had played its matches in the group stage of the African Champions League in Cairo, during which it collected only 4 points, equal with its rival Al-Hilal, while South African Sun Downs and Al-Ahly advanced to the quarter-finals of that group.

However, the vice president of Al-Merrikh claimed in the leaked video that his club had received 4 promises from the Al-Ahly administration to miss out on one of the games in exchange for hosting his team's matches in Cairo.

He pointed out that Al-Ahly promised Al-Merrikh to host it for free, and to win back and forth over Al-Hilal and Sun Downs, in addition to missing points in one of Al-Ahly’s matches against Al-Merrikh, in addition to the inclusion of two Al-Ahly professional players during the upcoming transfer period.

Muhammad Ahmed added in the video: "All these promises were not fulfilled, and after the loss in the first match against Al-Ahly, the board of directors held an urgent meeting in Cairo to transfer our second match against Al-Ahly to Khartoum."

He added, "The majority voted in favour of playing the match in Khartoum, while Adel Abu Greisha, the general supervisor, intervened on the pretext of not embarrassing the club's president, Hazem Mustafa, who threatened not to spend on the team." And the vice president of Al-Merrikh continued: "We sent a letter to the African Union about not holding the meeting in Cairo, but we were surprised by an official in the club's executive office (Muhannad Kamal) sending another letter, confirming that the meeting will be held in Cairo."

QUALIFIERS RESULTS Al-Merrikh lost against Al-Ahly of Egypt back and forth at Al-Salam Stadium by 2-3 and 1-3, to lose any hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the African Champions League. For his part, Hazem Mostafa, president of Al-Merrikh Club, made statements through more than one Egyptian newspaper, denying what his deputy said in whole and in detail, denouncing the words that were repeated in the leaked video.

ALMERRIKH PRESIDENT DENIES, APOLOGIZING The president of Al-Merrikh, Hazem Mustafa, commented on the leak, saying in press statements: "What was said in the video clip a young child does not believe, everything that was said is completely false. Al-Ahly is run by personalities with a great deal of respect."

He explained, "We will investigate with Mohamed Ahmed in the coming hours, and in my capacity as the president, I apologize to Mahmoud Al-Khatib, Al-Ahly's president, for the false accusations levelled against him, and I thank him and his great club for hosting."

The president of Al-Merrikh confirmed that he has opened an investigation after the action of his deputy Mohamed Ahmed, and confirmed he will be taking strict measures, congratulating Al-Ahly on his qualification to the semi-finals by excluding Moroccan Raja Casablanca.

He stressed, "We will deny this matter with an official statement of decisions against the deputy, and with an official apology to Al-Khatib."