CAF Confederation Cup final set for Morocco amid drama
Moroccan club
Renaissance Berkane are due to host Egyptian outfit Zamalek on Sunday in the
CAF Confederation Cup final first leg against a background of off-field drama.
Algerian side
USMA, who forfeited both legs of a semi-final in a storm over Moroccan maps on
the Berkane shirts, have asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to
reverse those decisions.
They also want
the first leg of the title decider, scheduled for the 10,000-capacity Stade
Municipal in northeastern Morocco, to be postponed.
Separately,
Zamalek have requested the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to change
the Tunisian VAR officials chosen to handle the first encounter to those from
another country.
The shirts
drama began two days before the first leg was set to be played on April 21 when
Algerian custom officials seized the kit as the map included the Western
Sahara.
Morocco have
controlled most of that sparsely populated territory, which has phosphate
reserves and rich fishing grounds, since 1975.
But Algeria is
opposed to Moroccan rule and backs the Polisario Front, which seeks
independence for the Western Sahara.
The dispute
was partly responsible for Algeria cutting diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021
over what it called "hostile acts". Morocco branded the move
"completely unjustified".
CAF ordered
the Algerian authorities to return the confiscated kit and when they did not do
so, Berkane refused to play and were awarded a 3-0 walkover by the African
body.
Algeria argued
that the shirts contained a political message that conflicts with the laws of
the game and CAF and FIFA regulations.
Morocco
countered that shirts including the map had been worn in Nigeria, Mali, South
Africa, Congo Brazzaville and Libya en route to the semi-finals, and there had
been no objections.
USMA travelled
to Morocco for the return match on April 28, but refused to play, reportedly
because their opponents' shirts included the map.
This led to
another 3-0 walkover for Berkane over USMA, who last season won the
Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League, for the
first time.
USMA president
Kamal Hassina told the AfricaFootUnited website that his club and the Algerian
Football Federation (FAF) had lodged an appeal with the Switzerland-based CAS.
"USM was
ready to play the first match in Algeria by making all the arrangements. We
asked the CAS not to play this final or to postpone it," said Hassina.
Meanwhile,
Zamalek are unhappy with the choice of VAR officials for the first leg because
the Berkane coach, Mouin Chaabani, is Tunisian.
The Cairo club
say the choice of Tunisian officials is against the CAF principles of equality
and impartiality.
Berkane have
lifted the Confederation Cup twice after losing the 2019 final to Zamalek on
penalties after both clubs won 1-0 at home.
The sole
survivor from that Berkane team is captain and centre-back Issoufou Dayo, a
Burkina Faso international.
He played a
key role in the knockout stage this season, scoring the decisive quarter-final
goal 15 minutes into added time against Libyan opponents Abu Salim.
Berkane boast
an outstanding home record in the competition, winning 34 matches and drawing
six, scoring 88 goals and conceding 17.
Zamalek
suffered a blow when injured captain Mahmoud 'Shikabala' Abdelrazek was ruled
out of the match in Berkane and the return encounter in Cairo on May 19.
The White
Knights have a good Confederation Cup record in Morocco, losing only once in
four visits, and impressed in Ghana last month when hammering Dreams 3-0 in a
semi-final second leg.
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