CAF kick Ismaily out of Champions League

Thursday Jan 24, 2019. 12:00

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Wednesday evening that they have ejected Egyptian side Ismaily from the ongoing 2018/19 Champions League.

In an announcement posted on their official Twitter page, CAF explained that the Ismaila-based club have been ejected from the elite continental tournament following crowd trouble in their home match against Club Africain last weekend.

The match at the Ismaila Stadium on Friday 18 January finished 2-1 in favour of the Tunisian side but was abandoned late on because of the Ismaily fans which threw “stones and water bottles on the assistant referee and the visiting team”.

CAF cited Chapter XII. Article 3 from the regulations of the Champions League which state: “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.”

Ismaily have therefore been kicked out of the Champions League, while their two matches in Group C (the above-mentioned 2-1 loss to Club Africain and a 2-0 loss away to TP Mazembe) have been annulled.

The updated standings for the group are topped by Algeria’s CS Constantine on six points, while Africain and Mazembe both sit on zero points.

📣 ANNOUNCEMENT..Organizing committee descision: Ismaily SC eliminated from #TotalCAFCL 2019 pic.twitter.com/n32cHXEiZK
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 23, 2019