CAF Confederation Cup

Zesco United Monitors Enugu Rangers

Published

7 years ago

April 4, 2017

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Zesco United Serbian coach, Zlatko Krmpotic, has revealed his monitoring of Enugu Rangers ahead of their Sunday’s clash in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup playoff.

According to the Zambiareports on line, the coach said he had penned some notes on Enugu Rangers from the Nigerian side’s continental campaign.

“Enugu is a good team, they are champions in Nigeria. We must go with respect but I think Zesco have got chance,” he was quoted by Zambiareports to have said.

The Zambian side is expected in Nigeria on Wednesday as it wants to acclimatise ahead of the Sunday clash.

While Enugu Rangers are languishing at the bottom of the domestic league, Zesco United are achieving successes at home. Zlatko Krmpotic expressed delight at picking his first piece of silverware in Zambia after his side beat Nkana 2-0 in the Samuel Zoom Ndhlovu Charity Shield.

And Nkana coach Zeddy Saileti said the 12 time league champions will challenge for the title in the 2017 season.

The Serbian was handed the reins at Zesco United in February following the departure of George Lwandamina at the close of the 2016 season.

Krmpotic said he was happy for his players but will now focus on their Confederation Cup fixture away to Enugu Rangers in Nigeria over the weekend.

“I am very happy, congratulations to my players first, this is for my players, it is not for me,” said an elated Krmpotic.

He also reserved some respect for his opponents on the day, “Also congratulations to the opponent, good opponent, good team they put in everything. We give respect they gave everything to this game.”

Meanwhile, Saileti said his side was happy to have warmed up against strong opposition in the Charity Shield where they beat Zanaco 3-0 in the semi finals before being overcome by Zesco United in the final via a 2-0 result.

Zesco will be on continental duty in Nigeria where they will engage Enugu Rangers on Sunday with in the CAF Confederations Cup the return leg set for April 14, 2017 at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium.

The Ndola side had good run in the CAF Champions League last year reaching the semi finals of the continent’s top tier competition.

CAF Confederation Cup

CAS rejects Algeria’s request of accelerated hearing in RS Berkane-USM case

Published

22 hours ago

May 5, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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!

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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