CAF Confederation Cup
Further CAF Sanctions await USM Alger and Algerian Football Federation
With the last minute withdrawal of USM Alger from the second leg match of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final against Morocco’s RS Berkane, the Algerian club and the federation will be expecting further sanctions from CAF.
The Algerian team arrived Morocco on Friday for the Sunday scheduled match.
But on match day, first they failed to show up for the traditional warm-up preceding a match and eventually refused to play the match ostensibly on the instruction of the Algerian football federation.
The bone of contention is the outline Morocco map on the RS Berkane jerseys.
According to CAF regulations, “a withdrawal declared by a team after having qualified for the quarter-final and semi-final matches entails, in addition to the loss of the right of entry, a fine of fifty thousand (50,000) US dollars,”
In addition: “any team withdrawing from the competition after the calendar has been established will be prohibited from participating in all CAF interclub competitions for the next two editions following the edition of its withdrawal.”
Furthermore the regulations state: “in the event of a team’s withdrawal, its federation will be responsible for the financial and other consequences to be determined by the Interclub Commission and/or the CAF disciplinary jury”.
Zamalek commenced their CAF Confederation Cup journey with a 1-0 win over Kenya’s Police in the initial leg of the second preliminary round held in Nairobi this Saturday.
Veteran winger Abdallah El-Saied secured the win for the Whites with a precise strike from outside the box just a minute before halftime.
The Cairo giants, winners of the 2023-2024 CAF Confederation Cup title, started the match with relentless pressure on the hosts to clinch victory in the first leg and alleviate pressure before the upcoming return fixture in Cairo next Friday.
“The most important thing for us was to win and achieve our target,” Zamalek coach Gomes said after the game.
Hosts Police FC of Kenya could not breach Zamalek’s resolute defense in search of an equalizer.
Despite notable summer acquisitions, Zamalek’s coach Jose Gomes opted for a standard lineup, integrating young talents in lieu of seasoned players.
“We are now stronger than the previous season, thanks to spending more time with the team and preparing to play in the tournaments that we will participate in,” the Portuguese coach added.
Conversely, Kenya’s Police FC squandered a clear scoring opportunity against Zamalek, missing a crucial chance fifteen minutes before the final whistle, dashing hopes of leveling the score.
Kenya’s Police FC earned their place in this round following a hard-fought 1-0 aggregate victory over Ethiopia Coffee SC.
-Ahram
Nigeria’s Enyimba played a thrilling 0-0 draw with Burkina Faso’s Etoile Filante in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second round tie in Bamako on Friday.
There have been three previous confrontation with Burkina Faso teams and this Friday encounter was the second time that Enyimba had had to face Etoile Filante.
According to facts supplied by Opta Nigeria, Etoile Filante were Enyimba’s first ever opponent on the continent 22 years ago in March 2002. Ever since, Enyimba have played 157 times on the continent; the highest by any Nigerian club.
Enyimba carry their advantage to the return leg to be played on 22 September.
Nigeria’s sole survivors in the CAF Confederation Cup,Enyimba will face Burkina Faso sides, Etoile de Filante in the second round of the competition.
Enyimba drew bye in the preliminary round while the Burkina Faso team reached the second round after eliminating Hafia of Guinea.
Enyimba, second runners-up in the Nigerian League will be attempting to win the Confederation Cup for the first time for Nigeria as they did in the Champions League 21 years ago.
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