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Esperance has been confirmed as the winner of the 2019 African Football Confederation (CAF) Champions League after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed an appeal from Wydad Casablanca.
Wydad Casablanca left the field of play during the second leg of the final held in Rades in Tunisia.
The team was protesting after the video assistant referee (VAR) system was unavailable to rule on their disallowed goal in the 59th minute of the match.
Wydad Casablanca was trailing 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate when the incident occurred.
Walid El Karti’s header appeared to have leveled the Moroccan team before it was ruled out, prompting furious protests from Wydad Casablanca players, who demanded that the referee use VAR.
The match was abandoned after Wydad Casablanca refused to play again, and Esperance took the victory.
The CAF later ruled that the match should be replayed in a neutral venue, a decision that was later overturned by the TAS after appeals from both teams.
Wydad Casablanca has now ruled on an appeal to CAS against the CAF Disciplinary Council’s decision last year that the team had lost the match by abandoning the tie.
“The TAS dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision of the CAF Appeals Board in its entirety,” a TAS statement read.
Consequently, Espérance Sportive de Tunis is confirmed as the winner of the 2018/2019 CAF Champions League.
“The CAS Panel concluded in particular that the decision of the WAC players not to resume play after the interruption of the final at minute 59 of the game constituted abandonment within the meaning of article 148 of the CAF Disciplinary Code and that the CAF Appeals Board was Correct in confirming, through its Appealed Decision, the decision of the Disciplinary Board to declare that the WAC lost the return leg of the final by loss.
“Consequently, the CAS Panel dismissed the appeal.”
Both clubs had previously been sanctioned for the behavior of their fans around the tie.
