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Mukudzei Chingwere, Harare Bureau
DESPITE the bad treatment they endured at the hands of Congolese side AS Otoho last week, FC Platinum have refused the temptation to retaliate when their opponents come to Zimbabwe for the Champions League first round, second leg soccer tie scheduled for Mandava on Saturday.

The winner of the two legged encounter will book a place in the group stages of Africa’s premier club competition and FC Platinum are hot favourites to progress after grinding out a 1-1 draw in the hostile Congolese jungle last weekend.

The platinum miners complained about the way the match was handled as well as the hostile reception they endured, saying had it not been for a cocktail of ill-treatment, they could have won the first leg.

AS Otoho are expected in the country today following the arrival of their advance team on Monday and FC Platinum maintained that in as much as they want to progress to the group stages, they cannot afford to spurn the opportunity of marketing Zimbabwe as a safe tourist destination.

FC Platinum club president George Mawere told Harare Bureau that his club is modern and will never invoke dirty tactics used by some teams in the African Safari to win matches.

“What we endured in Congo is archaic and that is not how you treat visitors when they come to your country, we are a modern club and we will never ill-treat opponents.

“I think it affected the performance of the team. We could have won the match but above all we expect to win in the reverse leg at home.

“They should brace themselves for a modern way of receiving and treating opponents when they visit their countries, we will give them the platinum ambience,” he continued.

“Zimbabwe is one of the best tourist destinations in the world and we cannot afford to let go the chance of marketing destination Zimbabwe.

“We will create a perfect ambience for the team to perform on the field of play and hopefully we will be able to progress to the next stage,” said Mawere.

Meanwhile, the miners started preparations for the reverse fixture when they conducted their first training session in Zvishavane yesterday afternoon.

They were boosted by the return to full-fitness of offensive midfielders Rahman Kutsanzira and Ali Sadiki, Warriors international defender Kevin Moyo is also likely to be available for selection on Saturday.

Caf has assigned Djibouti officials to take charge of the match. Souleiman Djama will be the match referee assisted by compatriots Salh Mohamed, Rachid Bouraleh and Mohamed Guedi as second, third and fourth official respectively.

Malawian official James Mwenda will be the match commissioner for the decisive game.