CAF Champions League
Gulf Crisis Surfaces in CAF; Al Ahly Coach fined, Suspended
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The crisis in the Gulf region which has seen some Arab countries breaking ties with Qatar has snowballed into the football arena in Africa. The first victim is Hossam El Badry, the coach of Egyptian giants, Al Ahly.
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has slammed one-match suspension and a fine of 10,000 US Dollars on him for what is described as “violating directives and guidelines related to media operations of the ongoing Total CAF Champions League.
The infringement was committed during the Day 5 and 6 Group D matches against Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco and Coton Sport of Cameroon on June 20 in Casablanca (Morocco) and July 9 in Alexandria (Egypt) respectively.
Sports Village Square gathered that the coach objected to the microphone of beIN Sports, a Qatari sports network which has the sole rights in the Middle East to broadcast tournaments such as the Africa Cup of Nations, the CAF Champions League and the World Cup among others.
The Qatari outfit which also has exclusive rights to the African Champions League and Confederation Cup has been blocked in many Gulf countries over the crisis.
Sports Village Square also gathered that the Egyptian Football Association along with the North African country’s two biggest clubs – Al Ahly and Zamalek – announced that beIN Sports journalists would be barred from covering their games and press conferences.
On the eve of the Champions League match against Wydad Casablanca, Al Ahly Head Coach Hossam El Badry objected to the presence of beIN Sports reporters at the pre-match press conference in Casablanca.
Having threatened to walk out, El Badry eventually performed his media duties but clashed with beIN Sports reporters over the positioning of their microphone.
CAF in a media statement on Thursday stated that: “for the match against Wydad, El Badry left the press conference room “because there was a BeIN Sports microphone. The coach finally participated in the press conference whilst covering the microphone of BeIN Sports to prevent the sound or pushing it away at other times”.
With respect to the game against Coton Sport, “the coach as well as players refused to make an interview with BeIN Sports after the match. The coach did assist in the press conference at the end of the match but the players were not there”.
Meanwhile, the one-match ban is suspended on condition that El Badry is not found guilty of a similar offence until the end of the competition.
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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