Esperance de Tunis have been crowned CAF Champions League winners after Wydad Casablanca abandoned the game following VAR controversy.
The first-leg in Morocco finished in a 1-1 draw, which meant that Wydad Casablanca needed to win 1-0 or draw by any scoreline that is larger than 1-1 in order to secure the title.
However, it was the hosts who opened the scoreline in Rades after Youcef Belaili fired them into the lead in the 41st minute, ending the first-half 1-0 to the Tunisian giants.
Wydad managed to level the aggregate score in the 58th minute when Walid El Karti headed in a cross, but it was ruled out for offside.
The replays showed that El Karti was onside and the goal should have stood, however, Gambian referee Bakary Gassama didn’t consult the VAR due to technical issues with the system.
The game was halted for over an hour as the Moroccans refused to continue the game unless the VAR was checked, saying that no one informed them before the game that VAR will not be used.
This led to CAF president Ahmed Ahmed to enter the pitch to convince the players to resume play, however, he failed and then the referee blew his whistle to announce Esperance as the CAF Champions League winners.
“Wydad’s players wanted to mess up the game, so we had to be calm,” Esperance manager Moine Chaabani told beIN SPORTS after the game.
“But these were managerial things. We have no impact on them, the important thing is we are the champions,” the Tunisian added.
It’s worth mentioning that Egyptian referee Gehad Grisha was suspended for six months following his poor refereeing performance in the first-leg, which saw him rule out a goal for Wydad as well as sending off their midfielder Brahim Nakach.
This title becomes Esperance’s fourth in their history after 1994, 2011, 2018, and the sixth in Tunisian clubs’ history after titles for Étoile du Sahel and Club Africain in 2007 and 1991 respectively.
They will now face Egypt’s Zamalek in the CAF Super Cup in August after the Whites managed to clinch the CAF Confederation Cup title last week.
Source:Kingfut
