The DRC's League 1 championship is in danger of coming to an abrupt halt due to financial problems experienced by LINAFOOT to ensure the teams' travel. This situation could have serious consequences on the Congolese national A' team, which is preparing for the CHAN 2023, and on the country's four representatives in CAF competitions this season.
Will the Congolese Ligue 1 go to the end of the season? This is the big question at a time when it is threatened by the risk of an abrupt halt with the announcement, by the management committee of LINAFOOT, of a lack of financial means owing to the lack of government support.
LINAFOOT had launched the season with the remaining funds allocated from last season, which was interrupted at the end of the first phase. The federal body had asked the clubs to take charge of their travels, something they have, for the most part, found difficult to do because they have not provided a budget for this purpose at the beginning of the season.
The A' selection first victim
Even if the championship continues until now, several games have already been postponed due to teams not making the travels for the games and if this situation continues, the championship could be stopped. The first victim of this stoppage would be the A' selection of the DRC which will take part in the CHAN 2023 from January 13 in Algeria.
All the players who compose this local team of the DRC come from the Ligue 1. An abrupt stop of the championship risks heckling the physical condition of the local Leopards, said the president of the management committee of LINAFOOT, Bosco Mwehu. "We will soon have the CHAN in January in Algeria, he warned. But our A' team can only be competitive if the championship is played as it should be. A sudden stop of the championship will have a strong impact on the physical condition of the leopards. That's why we ask the Head of State to think about us so that in a better time, the money is made available to clubs that must travel to play their matches because if the championship stops, it will be really incomprehensible.
For the first time in its history, the DRC has four representatives in the group stage of African inter club competitions. AS V. Club in the Champions League. TP Mazembe, DCMP and FC Saint-Eloi Lupopo in the Confederation Cup. The absence of the return leg of the championship last season has strongly impacted the physical and technical form of these four clubs in the first rounds of these two interclub competitions of CAF.
Clubs involved in Africa threatened
Mazembe was eliminated from the Champions League by Ugandan club Vipers SC and was relegated to the CAF Cup, where they still qualified for the group stage. Despite their qualification, V. Club, DCMP and Lupopo have not been attractive in the game. The resumption of the championship has helped all these clubs to find their rhythm. An abrupt stop could be fatal for them as the competition gets tougher.
Interviewed by Sport News Africa, the president of the Association of Directors of Football Clubs of the DRC (ADFCO), Lambert Osango, speaks of a national emergency. "Today, LINAFOOT is in difficulty and we want the government to continue to finance the transport of clubs, he said. We are in great difficulty and if we stop the championship, our four representatives in the CAF interclubs will suffer enormously; it is the image of the country that is at stake. It is urgent that there is a solution to allow the championship to continue.
For sports journalist Olivier Pengongo, the government can find an agreement with the national airline to allow the teams to travel before the funds are disbursed. "The clubs did not plan for this budget from the start. No club's general assembly was going to accept that this travel section was included in the budget, knowing that this money was taken care of by the government. In my opinion, the government has the power to ask the carrier, the national airline, to take care of the travel of the clubs to be reimbursed afterwards. All this in order to allow the championship to continue."
The competition that kicked off last October is currently in its tenth day and it is AS V. Club is in the lead with 28 points.
