Esperance retains Champions League title as CAF disciplines Wydad for misconduct

The Confederation of African Football(CAF)’s disciplinary board has retained Tunisian side Esperance as the 2019 Champions League winners.

CAF two months ago ordered for a replay of the finals that Esperance had won controversially.

In the return leg of the finals in Tunisia, Wydad Casablanca from Algeria complained that Video Assistant Referee technology wasn’t working after match officials claimed that there were some technical issues.

The VAR screen eventually got back up and running before the break when Wydad scored an equalizer which was flagged offside, the VAR screen was mysteriously smashed.

This was the final straw for the Algerian side as they refused the match from continuing and after an hour of waiting to get VAR to work again but in vain, the centre referee blew the final whistle that saw Esperance declared African champions.

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Wydad Casablanca later petitioned against the same prompting CAF to reverse the decision which saw the continent football governing body’s executive committee to rule that conditions of the game and safety were not met during the second leg game preventing it from ending.

The decision was however appealed by Esperance at the Court of Arbitration for Sport which ordered CAF’s disciplinary board to make a final decision over the matter.

On Wednesday, Esperance was declared the rightful winners of the 2019 CAF Champions League by the disciplinary board.

The CAF’s disciplinary board subsequently meted out punishment to Wydad for their inappropriate behaviour in the game.

“Wydad is considered to have lost the game in the final second leg, a fine of 50,000 USD is imposed on the club for the abandonment of the match and a fine of 15,000 USD is imposed for the use of flares by the supporters,” CAF said in a statement.

Esperance club president Mohamed Meddeb was also handed a $20,000 fine, while the club was fined $50,000 for their supporters’ unsuitable behaviour.

The Tunisian outfit was also ordered to play their next two matches behind closed doors for excessive use of smoke and firecrackers.

The punishment was however suspended for 12 months provided they do not commit a similar offence in that time