Football giants of Rivers State, Rivers United FC has said that the Port Harcourt-based club has uncovered plans by Young Africans of Tanzania to continue holding back four players and three officials of the club in Tanzania, despite testing negative to COVID-19.
A statement issued on Friday by Charles Mayuku, the media officer of the club, recalled how six members of Rivers United were said to have tested positive to COVID-19, barely two hours to kick-off on Sept. 12, in their CAF Champions League first leg preliminary round tie in Tanzania.
Mayuku explained that the players and officials, who were left behind in Tanzania, had undergone COVID-19 tests twice since Sept. 13 but however, the club has observed hesitancy on the side of Tanzanian health authorities to release their results.
“But we have observed hesitancy in the release of the results by the Tanzanian health authorities when, on Sept. 16, the team underwent rapid testing and all were found to be negative.
“In a new twist, the Tanzanian health authorities that refused to allow the team leave the country insisted that the club members undergo RT-PCR test, of which the result has unnecessarily been delayed,”
The football club said Tanzania’s health authorities had shown so much insincerity in handling the process.
“Rivers United football club sees the insincerity on the part of the handlers of the process as a ploy to rule the team members out of the second leg which comes up on Sunday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.” the statement concluded
