CAF Confederation Cup
Sportsville Award Winner, Elegbeleye Celebrates Rivers United Confederation Cup Qualification –
Gbenga Elegbeleye, the chieftain of the Nigeria Premier League and winner of the Sports Administrator of the Year category at last Friday’s Sportsville Awards has applauded Rivers United for reaching the quarter finals of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Rivers United achieved the feat following a 2-1 defeat of Dreams FC of Ghana in the last group fixture in Uyo on Sunday.
Rivers United finished second behind the Ghanaian side on same points but on inferior goals difference. Club Africain of Tunisia dropped to third after a 1-1 draw with APC Lobito of Angola.
Elegbeleye who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League in a congratulatory message, said their success has added to the recent revival of the nation’s football.
The NPFL Chairman also commended the club for the win which sustained Nigeria’s standing in country ratings in CAF club competitions.
“The victory of Rivers United and their qualification for the knockout stage is very significant because it has guaranteed Nigeria two places each in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
“We are very delighted that the Club has sustained the country’s recent good runs in football since the coming of the Ibrahim Gusau led NFF Board”, declared Elegbeleye.
He assured Rivers United of the continued support of the NPFL Board in whichever way its assistance is required to ensure that Nigeria wins the competition.
“Rivers United is a worthy ambassador of the NPFL and we are very proud of their performance which also has rubbed of positively on the quality standard and competitiveness of our league”, continued Elegbeleye.
Rivers United will now face any of the three of USM Alger of Algeria, Zamalek of Egypt or RS Berkane of Morocco in the last eight in a home and away legs knockout games.
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
-
World Cup5 days ago
South Africa may field Nigerian against Nigeria in World Cup qualifier
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
NFF cuts Enyimba’ point haul by two
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
Finidi George becomes Nigeria’s 41st national coach
-
Nigerian Football2 days ago
Remo Stars in jinx-breaking win over Rivers United
-
FEDERATION CUP5 days ago
At least five Premier League clubs set to exit President Federation Cup
-
Nigerian Football1 week ago
Behold, it’s Jay Jay Okocha’s anniversary as international footballer
-
World Cup6 days ago
Can Finidi George take the Super Eagles to a new height?
-
Olympics1 week ago
Mosquito-induced viral infection spreads in France ahead of Olympics