The Confederation of African Football (CAF) clubs commission, convened on Wednesday, April 24, regarding the USM Alger vs RS Berkane match, decided to penalize the Algerian club with a default 0-3 loss. Another decision was made regarding the return match.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has made a decision regarding the Confederation Cup derby between USMA of Algeria and RS Berkane of Morocco. This federation, through its Commission for the Organization of Inter-Club Competitions and License Management, decided during its meeting held in Cairo on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, to penalize USMA, considering it to have forfeited.
As a result, the three points of the match are awarded to the Moroccan club of Berkane, which was considered the winner by a score of 0-3, as stipulated by CAF regulations regarding defaults.
The matter will not stop there. The case is now in the hands of a disciplinary jury which will decide on other possible additional sanctions against the Algerian club.
Another major decision was made concerning the return match between the two clubs, which has been maintained and its date set. The Renaissance Sportive de Berkane will host USMA at home on April 28, 2024, at 20:00 local time (GMT 1).
CAF officially notified its decision as soon as it was made to Nadir Bouzenad, the Secretary-General of the Algerian Football Federation (FAF).
The sanction confirms the African confederation's commitment to maintaining discipline in its inter-club competitions.
To recall, upon their arrival in Algiers on Friday, April 19 at Algiers airport, the RS Berkane players were long delayed at the airport. Worse, Algerian political authorities seized the club's official jerseys on that day under the pretext that they bore the geographical map of Morocco, and naturally the official map, showing the territory of the Kingdom in its entirety. This map has long been on the uniforms of the Moroccan club, and its players have worn them for a long time wherever they play across Africa. Both CAF and FIFA have seen them, without ever making any observations.
Some netizens even pulled out archives of sports meetings where Moroccan clubs faced their Algerian counterparts, during which the Moroccan players wore outfits featuring an even more prominent official Moroccan map, without anyone reacting as the Algerian authorities did last Friday.
This was notably the case on November 27, 2014, in Tunis, when the Moroccan basketball team of Chabab Rif Al Hoceima (CRA) faced its Algerian counterpart from Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers (GSP).
The CAF's decision now serves as jurisprudence and will prevent Moroccan sports clubs from the usual hassles during each of their trips to Algerian soil.
