The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed on Wednesday the Executive Committee have decided the replay of the second leg of the Champions League final between Esperance de Tunis and Wydad Casablanca.
Esperance have retained their CAF Champions League title following VAR controversy that took place in the second leg of the final against Wydad in Rades.
Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg, it was the hosts who took the lead in the 41st minute through Youcef Belaili; however, Wydad managed to score an equalizer through Walid El Karti’s cross, a goal which was ruled out for offside.
Nevertheless, the replay showed El Karti was onside; thus, the goal should have stood, but, Bakari Gassama refused to consult VAR to check the goal due to technical errors in the system. As a result, Wydad players refused to continue the game, holding on their right to resume the game only when VAR is in action.
CAF Executive Committee communicated a bunch of decisions taken following a summit in Paris on Wednesday, June 5.
The decisions came as follows:
- the conditions of game and safety were not met during the 2nd leg of the CAF Champions League final held on May 31, 2019, preventing the match from coming to an end;
- consequently, the 2nd leg match must be replayed on another ground outside Tunisian territory;
- all the CAF regulations relating to this competition are maintained for the said 2nd leg match;
- the date and venue of this meeting will be determined later by the CAF Executive Committee;
- consequently, Espérance de Tunis will have to render to the CAF Secretariat trophy and medals awarded on May 31, 2019, upon official notification of this decision;
- all other aspects of disciplinary, organization and refereeing will be submitted to the relevant committees for processing and decisions.
Source:CAF
