CAF Confederation Cup
Rivers United drawn against Confederation Cup reigning champions, USM Alger
Nigeria’s Rivers United face an uphill task as they have been drawn against defending champions, USM Alger in the quarter-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup. USM Alger will be going into the encounter with intimidating profile as they are not just the defending champions, they also hold the CAF Super Cup after they defeated Al Ahly of Egypt, the winners of the Champions League.
The draw was done on Tuesday in Cairo. But the most intriguing pairing is the Egyptian derby of Zamalek and Future FC. Nigeria’s Dolphins which later merged with Sharks to form Rivers United were finalists in 2005 when they lost to Morocco’s Forces Armées Royales.
In the draw conducted on Tuesday, all four competition champions (USM Alger, RS Berkane, Stade Malien, RS Berkane) avoided each other in the quarter-finals.
One of the quarter-finals pitches Libya’s Abu Salem against two-time champions, RS Berkane of Morocco who are in search of a third continental title since their 2020 and 2022 triumphs.
Champions in the 2009 edition, Stade Malien are back in the knockout stages of the competition and are aiming for a second title when they face Ghana’s Dreams FC who will be looking at causing an upset against their more fancied opponent.
CAF Confederation Cup Quarter-Final Draw Outcome:
29 – 31 March 2024:
QF 1 | Modern Future (EGY) vs Zamalek (EGY)
QF 2 | Abu Salem (LBY) vs RS Berkane (MAR)
QF 3 | Rivers United (NGR) vs USM Alger (ALG)
QF 4 | Stade Malien (MLI) vs Dreams FC (GHA)
05 – 07 April 2024:
QF 1 | Zamalek (EGY) vs Modern Future (EGY)
QF 2 | RS Berkane (MAR) vs Abu Salem (LBY)
QF 3 | USM Alger (ALG) vs Rivers United (NGR)
QF 4 | Dreams FC (GHA) vs Stade Malien (MLI)
Semi-Final Draw Outcome:
QF 3 Winner vs QF 2 Winner
QF 1 Winner vs QF 4 Winner
Semi-Finals Dates to be communicated in due course.
CAF Confederation Cup
CAS rejects Algeria’s request of accelerated hearing in RS Berkane-USM case
Algeria’s hope of stalling the final matches of the CAF Confederation Cup has collapsed. This is sequel to the rejection of accelerated hearing put up by the Algeria football federation.
The final matches pitch RS Berkane against Zamalek of Egypt. The second leg of the final match will be held in Cairo on May 19. By that time, the appeal filed by Algeria would not have been heard.
On April 26, the CAS rejected the urgent request from the the Algerian federation to halt the final matches until their appeal has been heard.
“This request was rejected ex parte by the president of the CAS Appeals Chamber,” explains the body in a press release published last Thursday, May 2.
CAF Confederation Cup
Morocco’s RS Berkane get to Confederation Cup final with record aggregate scoreline but without kicking the ball!
The CAF Interclub Competitions and Management of the Club Licensing System Committee has awarded the unplayed Confederation Cup second leg semi-final fixture between RS Berkane and USM Alger to Morocco’s RS Berkane.
The same decision was taken on the unplayed first leg match in Algeria. Thus, without having to kick the ball, RS Berkane moved to the final matches, technically with a 6-0 aggregate, the highest semi-final scorelines since the competition began 20 years ago.
According to the CAF Inter-clubs committee, the case against Algeria’s USM Alger has been passed to the Disciplinary Board of CAF for possible additional sanctions.
CAF Confederation Cup
USM Alger’s coach resigns over jersey controversy
Spanish coach Juan Carlos Garrido has announced his resignation from coaching Algerian club USM Alger, Moroccan channel Medi1 TV reported. Garrido made the announcement in an exclusive statement to the channel.
Garrido’s decision comes after the African Football Confederation’s club committee announced the elimination of USM Alger from the CAF Confederation Cup.
The Algerian team decided to withdraw from the second leg game of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final against Morocco’s RS Berkane last week.
As a result, CAF penalized USM Alger with a forfeit, awarding RS Berkane a 3-0 victory by default and securing their place in the tournament’s final against Egyptian club Zamalek.
This comes in the wake of a controversy that began when Algerian authorities confiscated RS Berkane’s equipment after they landed in Algiers for the first leg of their semi-final match against USM Alger.
The Algerian authorities notably confiscated the Moroccan club’s jerseys for featuring the full Moroccan map with the Western Sahara region.
Despite efforts by CAF to mediate the issue and assert the legitimacy of RS Berkane’s jerseys, the Algerian authorities refused to return the confiscated items.
This resulted in the match’s abandonment and CAF declaring RS Berkane winners of the first leg with a 3-0 scoreline.
In the subsequent second leg, scheduled to take place in Morocco, USM Alger opted to withdraw from the match, further fueling the controversy.
CAF subsequently penalized USM Alger with a forfeit, awarding RS Berkane a 3-0 victory and eliminating the Algerian team from the tournament.
Medi1 TV reported Garrido as indicating that he had no direct involvement in the jersey controversy and that his primary concern was solely focused on football matters.
The report added that the coach had expressed disapproval of the events surrounding the jersey dispute and emphasized his dedication to the game and his discomfort with being embroiled in off-field controversies.
-Morocco World News
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