Sports News of Wednesday, 13 September 2017

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

2017 WAFU Nations Cup: Ghana to play Guinea on Thursday

Black Stars B celebrating a goal Black Stars B celebrating a goal

The late arrival of Nigeria for the 2017 WAFU Cup of Nations has forced the organisers to revise their fixtures for the ongoing competition in Ghana.

The organisers and television rights holders, Fox Sports, revealed that the Super Eagles' clash with Sierra Leone which was supposed to have been played on Saturday, September 9 was delayed till Monday, September 11 to allow for players to take part in the final round of league matches in Nigeria.

This means Senegal's game with Liberia became the second game of the competition which brought misunderstanding with suggestions that they would play Ghana on Thursday, September 14 in a Group A game.

However, organisers said because of the change in the knock-out phase of the matches, some changes have occurred, forcing some changes in the fixtures even though the original groups during the draw will be maintained.

Organizers of the ongoing WAFU tournament have given reasons for changes in opening group stage fixtures.

Ghana was initially set to play Nigeria in the Group A opener at 15h00 (GMT) on Thursday, September 14 but that fixture has been replaced by the game between Mali and Nigeria.

This will be followed by the match between Ghana and Guinea at 18h00 (GMT) on the same day.

According to officials from WAFU and tournament sponsors FOX, this adjustment is as a result ofthe late arrival of Nigeria which saw the Super Eagles preliminary stage game against Sierra Leone shifted to Monday, September 11.

Nigeria thus advanced to the group stage as the last team to qualify to Group A which also saw a change in their position on the fixtures.

On Saturday, September 16 Nigeria will play a second afternoon fixture against Guinea with kick-off at 15h00 (GMT), to be followed by Ghana up against Mali at 18h00.

The final round of Group A matches will be played on Monday, September 18, with Nigeria battling the home team Ghana at 18h00 (GMT), while Guinea will square up against Mali at the same time.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinal stage of the competition.

The final match will be played on Sunday, September 24.