Sports
CAF Fines Madagascar, Others Over Hooliganism
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has fined Madagascar, the Central African Republic and three clubs for various offences during matches organised by the continent’s football body.
The decisions were taken on Saturday at the meeting of CAF Disciplinary Committee held in Johannesburg.
The Malagasy Football Federation was fined 10,000 dollars for allowing their fans to throw plastic and glass bottles to the pitch during the 2012 Orange Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia on October 10 in Antananarivo.
However, half of the amount was suspended.
The Central African Republic was fined the same 10,000 dollars, half of which was also suspended for poor security arrangements, leading to the invasion of the pitch by fans.
The offence was committed during the Nations Cup qualifier against Algeria on October 10 in Bangui.
Tunisia’s Esperance de Tunis, Algeria’s JS Kabylie and TP Mazembe fell under the CAF axe for various offences in the CAF Champions League.
Esperance were fined 50,000 dollars to cover the cost of damages the club’s fans caused to facilities of the Cairo during their Champions League semi-final tie against Al Ahly on October 3. JSK, as the Algerian club is fondly known, will cough out 20,000 dollars over what CAF said was “repeated and abusive use of projectiles by spectators” in the Champions League semi-final tie against TP Mazembe on October 16 in Tizi Ouzou.
In addition, the club was ordered to play their next CAF inter club game behind closed doors.
Esperance were fined 15,000 dollars for their players’ misbehaviour during the first leg of the Champions League tie against TP Mazembe on October 31 in Lumumbashi.
Hosts, Mazembe were warned for ineffective security and organisational lapses in the match.
CAF said it would evaluate all aspects of the organisation of its Inter Club matches on November 12 at the Inter Clubs Organising Committee meeting.
The African soccer body said the performance of its referees in all its competitions would assessed at the next CAF Referee Committee scheduled for next month.
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt contingent, comprising players, technical crew, backroom staff, and officials, depart the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State on Wednesday, bound for Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The team is set to face FC Les Aigles du Congo in the first-round first-leg match of the CAF Champions League.
This was contained in a press release signed by the media officer of the club, Charles Mayuku and made available to Tidesports on Wednesday.
He said that the highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place at the 80,000-capacity Kinshasa-Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs on morrow with kickoff slated for 3:30pm.
According to the statement the encounter marks the first-ever meeting between both sides in any competition, adding that an air of excitement and unpredictability to the fixture.
“As the Pride of Nigeria embarks on this crucial journey, the team is determined to return with a decent result that will set them up favorably for the second leg on Sunday, 28th September” the statement said.
The new rankings, released via FIFA’s official X handle on Thursday, reflect the team’s continued struggles under Coach Eric Chelle amid a stuttering 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
This marks a second consecutive decline after the Nigerian side dropped from 43rd to 44th in August on the back of poor outings in recent international matches.
Despite Nigeria’s setback, several African teams made progress. Morocco remains the continent’s highest-ranked side, sitting 11th in the world after winning eight of their last nine matches. Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire complete Africa’s top five.
Lesotho slipped to 153rd place, while Benin Republic, Nigeria’s upcoming opponent, climbed to 93rd. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in June, rose to 55th, strengthening their bid for World Cup qualification.
Zimbabwe had the biggest slide down the ranking table, dropping nine places to 125th position in the world.
The rankings highlight Nigeria’s struggle to regain form on the global stage as key rivals continue to surge ahead.
Similarly, the Super Falcons of Nigeria remain 36th best in the world], while the Spanish female national team replaced the USA at the top of the women’s ranking.
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