The Confederation of African football has been left in a disgraceful dilemma as uncertainty continues to loom over the winners of the 2018-2019 edition of the CAF Champions League.
The 55th edition of Africa’s premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, saw the return leg final between 1992 and 2017 winners Wydad of Casablanca from Morocco and three time winners and defending champions Esperance of Tunis abandoned after the players of Wydad refused to carry on with the game.
This is the 22nd edition of the tournament under the current CAF Champions League title.
The final is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, and which team hosts the first leg is determined by the knockout stage draw. The draw for the 2018-2019 final was held on March 20, 2019, 20:00 CAT , at the Marriot Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.
If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away-goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, there will not be any extra time, and a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.
With the rules clearly set before the finals, the continent was waiting with anxiety to get its champion of the 55th edition.
All looked to be going according to plan when Wydad hosted Esperance at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat for the first leg final on May 24, 2019 with Egyptian referee Gehad Grisha in charge and he made some important decisions thanks to the help of the Video Assistant Referees (VAR).
In what looked like an early sign of what was coming ahead the 43 year old Egyptian referee who became a FIFA referee 2008 was handed a six months ban by CAF, though he was amongst the referees to take part in the TOTAL AFCON Egypt 2019, with no clear explanations about why he was suspended, though he was later allowed to officiate in matches in the 2019 AFCON.
Ivorian midfielder Fousseny Coulibaly opened the scoring for Esperance at the 44th minute before his compatriot, centre back Cheick Comara replied for Wydad at the 79th minute.
Esperance looked to have taken an advantage in the tie especially as they had the return leg at home in Tunisia.
The return leg game was scheduled to take place at the Stade Olympique de Radès, with experienced Gambian referee Bakary Gassama chosen to preside over the game.
The game looked to going on normally and Esperance took the lead at the 41st minute through Algerian midfielder Youcef Belaili and took that advantage into the break.
Upon resumption, at the 59th minute, Wydad Casablanca refused to play on, when midfielder Walid El Karti headed in only for his effort to be ruled out for offside at the 58th minute.
The Gambian referee decided not to use the VAR for a recheck and that’s where all the controversy started.
It should be noted that Esperance had protested the choice of Mr Gassama as the referee of the game and sent an official letter to CAF about it.
It should be noted that the VAR was very much alive and played a key role in the 1-1 result of the first leg game in Morocco, which partly explains why the Egyptian referee was suspended at the end of the game.
It was later reported that at the time of the contested goal incident, the VAR system was not working and after a delay of almost two hours the match was Mr Gassama sounded the final whistle and match awarded to the home side Esperance, who were handed the trophy and winners’ medals for a fourth trophy in the competition and the second in a row.
Even an attempt by CAF’s President Ahmad Ahmad to convince the disgruntled Wydad team to carry on with the game did not yield any results.
It all looked done and dusted with jubilation and huge celebrations in the streets of Tunis, before the Confederation of African Football’s Executive Committee, who were in Paris for the FIFA Congress, held a meeting of their own on the side lines of that Congress decided to restage the match at a neutral ground after the 2019 AFCON in Egypt. The decision did not go down well with both teams and they responded an immediate legal challenge at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
In Esperance’s challenge of the decision, they are asking the Court to rule out the possibility of a replay of the final, keep the trophy and medals they were awarded, and that they should be paid the prize money due to the winner.
Wydad on their part, do not also want a replay, wants to be awarded the trophy and medals and they should be given the prize money due to the winner paid to them.
BELOW IS THE MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS
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Media release
Muambo Edward
