CAF Confederation Cup
Nigeria Premier League Club Owners Salute Rivers United For Ensuring Nigeria’s Retention Of Four Slots In CAF Inter-clubs Competitions –
The feat was not just for Rivers United. It is for the good of Nigerian football, so say the other clubs in the Nigeria Premier League as Rivers United scaled the group stage hurdle into CAF Confederation Cup knockout stage.
“There is celebration in the land by football lovers”, declares the spokesman of the club owners, Godwin Enakhena who is the chairman of Sporting Lagos.
“The reason is simple. Come next season, four football clubs from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) will once again be representing the country in the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) competitions.
“All thanks to Rivers United football club of Port Harcourt who against all odds defeated Dreams Football Club of Ghana 2-1 in a pulsating encounter at the magnificent Godswill Akpabio stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state on Sunday.
“It was a game that the Pride Of Rivers state were condemned to wining, and they did in a dramatic faction at the death to book a quarter final slot and keeping Nigeria’s four slots on the continent.
Speaking on behalf of the NPFL Club Owners Association shortly after the game, Honourable Kunle Soname described the performance of Rivers United as the hallmark of champions.
“Champions don’t give up easily, and this was what Rivers United, the Pride of Nigeria football did on Sunday. The nation is in a joyous mood, everyone in the Club Owners Association is happy because this was indeed a welcome relief as we all knew what a defeat would’ve done to our league.
“Once again, we salute the players, officials and our chairman, Chief Okey Kpaluku for this wonderful result. Our pride and slots are intact. It is operation win the CAF Confederation Cup for Nigeria and they’ve our support”, concluded the Vice Chairman, South of the club owners.
In his remarks, Chief Kpaluku thanked the Club owners for their support and promised that Rivers United will not end their journey in the quarter finals but have their eyes set on the trophy.
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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