CAF expels Etoile du Sahel from Champions League

Accra, Aug. 27, GNA – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has enforced its disciplinary rod by heavily placing a ban on Tunisian club, Etoile du Sahel by expelling it from the CAF Champions League.

The Tunisian derby between Etoile du Sahel and holders Esperance two weeks ago in the Mediterranean city of Sousse was called off after 69 minutes after fans of the former invaded the pitch at a time when they were two goals down.

A CAF statement culled by GNA Sports in Accra said the decision to expel the Club from the premier continental Club Championship is in line with Article 7 of the competition’s regulations which states “If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations.

“Consequently, all results obtained previously by Etoile Sportive du Sahel within Group A are cancelled,” the CAF statement read.

The decision will serve a big blow to Etoile du Sahel, winners in 2007 after a false start to the group phase. Last year, Etoile du Sahel were disqualified from the CAF Confederation Cup after failing to honour a game in Northern Nigeria against Kaduna Stars after the continental football governing body had sanctioned the game.

The decision leaves only Esperance (Tunisia), ASO Chlef (Algeria) and Sunshine Stars (Nigeria) as the participants in Group A.

It would be recalled that a CAF Champions League game involving Zamalek (Egypt) and Club Africain (Egypt) in Cairo was also called off after fans of Zamalek were purported to have invaded the pitch.

Already, continental matches in Egypt are being held behind closed doors after clashes between fans during a league match between Al-Ahly and Al-Masry last February in Port Said which left over 70 fans dead.