Lupopo star responds to Pirates’ protests and unprofessionalism claims

St Eloi Lupopo star Dramane Kambou insists the uncertainty about the CAF Champions League group stage participation didn’t affect them at all.

The Democratic Republic of Congo outfit managed to get past Soweto giants Orlando Pirates in the second preliminary round of the annual competition to advance,

However, the Buccaneers protested the outcome, claiming there were some players who were not eligible to feature, as well as their coach Guy Bukasa. CAF dismissed the case, granting the Chaminots a ticket for the next phase of the prestigious continental club competition.

Kambou is adamant that the players’ mentality was not affected by the Bucs’ protests since they knew everything was in place. The midfielder has further stated Mamelodi Sundowns will be welcomed well in Lubumbashi, quashing reports of mistreatment.

We just had to do our job on the pitch

“No [we were not distracted] as players we were fully focused [on the game against Mamelodi Sundowns], that was administrative issues and it’s not our jobs as players to focus on, so we were focused on the game, the admin is not what we should worry about,” he told the media.

As a player, we just have to get the job done on the pitch, and the protest was for administrators, it didn’t change anything in our morale or focus of our game against Sundowns.

“[Sundowns] will be welcomed in DRC as Pirates were, we are a professional team, everything that was said on social media is not true, we will do our best as a team and our administration will do our best to really welcome Sundowns, as they did for us here,” Kambou concluded.

Lupopo fell 3-1 on Saturday against Masandawana at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.