FC Platinum advance team leaves for Sudan

return leg of the first round tie against El Merreikh this Saturday.
Team manager Philmon Muvengwa yesterday left with a small band of staff from the platinum miners to work on the logistics ahead of the team’s scheduled arrival on Thursday.
The match will be played at the El Merreikh Stadium on Saturday evening, kickoff 8pm.
Hwange are also expected to travel to the predominantly Arab nation for their second leg of the Confederation Cup against El Amal Atbara.
Zifa have indicated that they are closely monitoring the security situation in Sudan to ensure both Hwange and FC Platinum are not at risk from the civil strife in the vast country following the standoff between the north and South Sudan.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze, said the association’s board had resolved to engage the Zimbabwe embassy in Khartoum to get regular updates ahead of the two mining team’s assignments.
“As for the Caf club assignments it was resolved that there is need to have 24-hour monitoring on the situation in Sudan to ascertain the security risk. If a threat exists the association will bring it up with Caf,’’ Mashingaidze said.
Mashingaidze said there was nothing unusual about their move to monitor the situation as even El Merreikh had done the same even in a trouble-free country like Zimbabwe with the Sudanese giants also reportedly uneasy about the security of flying from Harare to Masvingo.
FC Platinum chairman Tadson Zhou yesterday said they were looking ahead with confidence as they hope to upstage the Sudanese champions on their backyard after playing a 2-2 draw in the first leg at Rufaro about two weeks ago.
Zhou confirmed the team, which is expected back in Harare today, will leave for Khartoum tomorrow afternoon and arrive in the early hours on Thursday, around 2am.
FC Platinum have a huge task on their hands following the draw at home as they now need a positive result in Sudan to keep alive their hopes in the tournament. Zhou yesterday said they will not throw in the towel.