CAF Champions League
CAF 2019 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CONTROVERSY: MOROCCO’S WYDAD RETURN TO CAS
The last may not have been heard concerning on the controversial final match of the 2018/19 CAF Champions League contested by Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club and Tunisia’s Esperance.
According to Morocco World News, Wydad is not happy with CAF’s final verdict in which CAF upheld the appeal of Esperance. That has also qualified Esperance to represent Africa at the 2019 FIFA Clubs World Cup in Qatar.
But in a surprising move after CAF’s final verdict, the Moroccan club has said it plans to file yet another complaint to contest CAF’s ruling. Wydad is taking advantage of the fact that it has 10 days to protest the ruling before the decision becomes binding and irreversible.
“We will fight for our rights until the very end,” Wydad chairman Said Naciri has been quoted as saying just hours after CAF’s verdict was made public.
Naciri said that his team “has been fighting for more than two months” to expose the “oppression” and other outrageous treatment they were subjected to before, during, and after the second leg at the Rades stadium on the outskirts of Tunis. “Esperance does not deserve to win if we take into account the way things unfolded in Rades,” the Wydad president argued.
But the surprise, even irony, in Wydad’s resolve to “fight until the end” means the club is determined to rush into taking its final complaint to an entity, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which has already ruled that ES Tunis should be the champions.
After the controversial second leg match in May, CAF initially opted for a rematch. But both Wydad and EST felt they had been wronged. The two clubs took the matter to CAS, each arguing that it should be the rightful winner.
CAS then overruled CAF’s rematch decision but declared EST as more legally deserving of win. Other than Wydad’s complaint about CAF’s rematch ruling, CAS said then, its case for winning the match was not legally compelling.
CAF’s latest verdict was a confirmation of CAS previous ruling, which raises questions as to what Wydad really hopes to get from yet another complaint with yet another body that has already delivered in favor of the opposing side.
But Wydad’s Naciri does not see the matter this way. He sees neither irony nor contradiction in Wydad’s resolve to file a complaint with CAS.
In his statement, he appears to evince confidence that maybe this time CAS, suddenly realizing that its previous ruling had missed some elements of the controversy, will give Wydad’s indignation the support and validation it deserves.
“Our next step will be to bring the case to CAS,” Naciri said, adding that he expects the court to deliver in a spirit of “equity.”
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.
CAF Champions League
VIDEO: Controversial penalty kick remains a talking point in Remo Stars’ elimination
But for the questionable penalty kick awarded for AS FAR of Morocco in the 78th minute of the tension-soaked CAF Champions League duel with Remo Stars on Sunday in Rabat, the complexion of the final result as well as the aggregate scorelines may have been different.
Match scoreline stood at 1-1 before the referee, Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali of Benin Republic, who was midway to the centre circle suddenly blew his whistle and awarded a penalty kick to the hosts.
Before then, all body contacts had been ruled against Remo Stars. Even, the Moroccans looked amused when the referee, who was off the scene suddenly ran into the penalty area and awarded a penalty kick for an incident, even if it were an infraction, happened outside the penalty box.
The award of the penalty kick and the conversion by El Amine Zouhzouh, literaly sealed Remo Stars thin hope of advancing.
The Nigerian side left it too late as they only came out to attack after their hopes had been sealed.
In starting the crucial match, their lead scorer, Sikiru Alimi and assist master, Sodiq Ismail were brought in only after the damage had been done. It was after the first goal in the 51st minute that Alimi was brought in in the 54th minute.
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