African Champions League: Cameroonian side PWD Bamenda’s rise above adversity

What makes PWD’s story even more remarkable is the backdrop to their continuing rise.

The city of Bamenda is in the North-West of the country, one of the regions which have been plagued by increasing violence between government forces and rebels, who have been demanding an independent state for Cameroon’s English-speaking minority since 2016.

In March 2019, both the coach of local Elite One rivals Yong Sports Academy and an entire university football team were kidnapped in separate incidents.

PWD will be hosting its home leg on Sunday in the South-Western city of Limbe partly due to security concerns but mainly because the facilities at their own ground do not meet the competition’s requirements.

“It’s a huge opportunity for a club like ours that has been playing in a region that has been characterised by socio-political upheavals,” Abude conitnued.

“This club, for us, is the one thing that’s most precious to us, and our performances give us a reason to think that people can be able to hope for better days ahead.

“It’s important to be able to bring together all our sons and daughters of this area to hope for peace to return to our region”.

The government’s coronavirus restrictions mean only 200 fans will be allowed into the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.

Those 200 will hope a club with such astonishing momentum could pull off yet another surprise, in order to take a lead to next week’s second leg in South Africa.

The winners of the preliminary tie will face 2018 semi-finalists Primeiro de Agosto of Angola in the competition’s first round.