Arbitration Court Rejects USM Alger Appeal Against CAF Decision, Upholds RS Berkane Victory

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reportedly upheld the decision made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) appeals committee regarding the first leg of USM Alger and RS Berkane’s semi-final match in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Rabat – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reportedly upheld the decision made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) appeals committee regarding the first leg of USM Alger and RS Berkane’s semi-final match in the CAF Confederation Cup.

Le360 quoted a reliable source as saying that CAS rejected the request from the Algerian Football Federation and USM Alger to suspend the decision issued by the CAF Appeals Committee, which ruled in favor of RS Berkane.

CAF announced the Moroccan club winners of the abandoned match with a 3-0 scoreline.

This series of events began when RS Berkane’s equipment was confiscated by Algerian authorities after they landed in Alger for the first leg of the game.

Their equipment, including jerseys, was confiscated for featuring Morocco’s full map, including the country’s southern provinces. Algerian authorities were strongly against the display of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara during the game.

Despite CAF stressing the legitimacy of RS Berkane’s jerseys, Algerian authorities refused to hand them back to the team, resulting in the game not taking place.

Le360 reported that the rejection of the appeal means that the Algerian Football Federation and USM Alger could face additional disciplinary actions. It is expected that both entities will face new penalties, especially after USM Alger refused to play the second leg against RS Berkane, the report added.

According to CAF regulations, any team that withdraws from the competition after qualifying for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will face a fine of $50,000, in addition to being banned from participating in CAF competitions for the next two editions following the withdrawal.

USM Alger was expected to take part in the second leg of the game, which was set to take place in Morocco, to avoid sanctions.

However, despite arriving in Morocco for the game, the Algerian team decided to pull out.

CAF penalized USM Alger with a forfeit of 0-3 for the second-leg match. In addition, CAF referred the matter to the disciplinary committee for possible additional sanctions against Algerian authorities.