7th August, 2019
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has declared Esperance Football club of Tunisia winner of the Africa Champions League trophy.
CAF had earlier overruled Esperance’s victory over Wydad Casablanca of Morocco after the former abandoned the second leg of the final match when its goal was overruled by the referee.
A statement on CAF’s website said “The Wydad Athletic Club is considered to have lost the game in the Final 2nd leg, a fine of 50,000 USD (Fifty Thousand US Dollars) is imposed on the club for the abandonment of the match and a fine of 15,000 USD (Fifteen Thousand US Dollars) is imposed for the use of flares by the supporters.”
CAF also fined Mr. Mohamed Meddeb, President of Club Esperance of Tunisia USD 20,000 USD as well as receiving a warning for his unsporting behaviour against the President of CAF.
CAF further fined Esperance USD 50,000 for the use of smoke and projectiles and the unsporting behavior of their supporters.
According to CAF, “Espernce will play their next two (2) home inter-club matches behind closed doors for the excessive use of smoke and firecrackers.
“However, the Disciplinary Board has decided to suspend the sanction in question provided that the club is not found guilty of a similar offense for the next twelve (12) months,” it said.
Esperance was earlier in June crowned CAF Champions League winners after their opponents, Wydad Casablanca, refused to return to the field in protest of VAR not being implemented on a goal that was ruled out.
The moment of controversy happened in the 58th minute of the Champions League final second-leg clash, when Wydad midfielder Walid El Karti’s effort was ruled out.
Gambian referee Bakari Gassama had chosen not to use video assistance to review the goal, which led to Wydad walking off the pitch and refusing to return.
After the game was halted for over an hour, Gassama declared Esperance the champions due to Wydad’s refusal to re-enter the pitch.
In what have been described as shameful scenes for the tournament’s organisers, reports later suggested VAR was not used due to technical issues with the system.