Flames duo of midfielder Patrick Mwaungulu and attacker Lanjesi Nkhoma’s dreams of playing in the 2024/25 CAF Champions League have been dealt a blow after their Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) side TP Mazembe failed to defend the Vodacom Linafoot.
The top tier league is played in two phases, the group stage and National Championship.
Nine teams qualify from group stage, six from Group A and three from Group B, for the play-offs.
Mazembe have finished fifth in the play-offs following a draw against Aigles du Congo on Saturday, to miss both Champions League and Confederation Cup for the first time since 1967.
Mwaungulu. | Nation
Champions Aigles du Congo will represent DRC in the Champions League while runners up AS Maniema Union will play in Confederations Cup.
Mwaungulu is at the centre of Mazembe’s unmaking after Linafoot docked them six points for featuring him before his registration was concluded.
The former FCB Nyasa Bullets player was signed by Mazembe in August 2024, alongside Nkhoma.
The two players were loaned out to Don Bosco as they could not be registered due to a Fifa transfer ban.
But following the lifting of the ban in March, Mazembe recalled them.
Mwaungulu immediately made an impact, scoring in the disputed matches against Maniema and CS Don Bosco.
Mazembe last week appealed to Linafoot but they were dismissed. Now their fate is in the hands of Federation of Congolese Football Associations (Fecofa) after appealing to the mother body onFriday.
The club in a statement said they are confident that Fecofa will overturn the league’s decision to dock them six points.
In the statement, Mazembe insist that they followed all the procedures to register Mwaungulu with Fecofa.
The statement reads in part: “TP Mazembe acknowledges the incomprehensible decision made on our appeal on Thursday evening, June 26, by Linafoot and confirms that it is immediately requesting its reversal by the Congolese Football Federation.
“Since the player’s arrival at CS Don Bosco, the TP Mezembe referred to the documents by Fecofa for the registration of the player.
“With all the documents attached to the appeal file, Linafoot has completely changed direction in its decision by delving into a matter it has no control over.
“TP Mazembe is going into the appeal to demonstrate its ability to respect the rules to secure hard-earned points on the pitch.”
