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African Roundup Cameroon faces stadium ban after CAF Cup finalPosted: Monday November 25, 2002 11:15 AM
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- Cameroon face the possibility of having their main stadium banned after Algerian club JS Kabylie clinched an historic third Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup victory there on Sunday. The Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde is likely to be banned by CAF following injury to Tunisian linesman Taaufik Oueslati in the early stages of Sunday's CAF Cup final, second leg match between Tonnerre Younde and the visiting Algerian club. Tonnerre won the game 1-0 but JS Kabylie took a record third successive CAF Cup title 4-1 on aggregate after a comprehensive win in the first leg in Algiers earlier this month. Oueslati was struck by a sharp object after just two minutes of the match and needed treatment to a gash on the side of his head. The linesman had to be taken off the field on a stretcher and the final was held up for some 25 minutes as he received treatment. He returned to his post afterwards, swathed in bandages, and completed the match without further incident. Later in the match, Algerian player Samir Djouder was also struck on the leg by a sharp stone thrown from the main stand of the stadium. Possible punishment for the Cameroon Football Federation will be discussed on December 10 when CAF's club competitions committee meets in Cairo. But CAF have recently stamped down on crowd violence across the African continent and in October banned the Rouiba stadium in Algiers from all international and continental club matches after a similar attack on the referee at an African Cup Winners' Cup semi-final. CAF has also banned stadiums in Ghana and Zimbabwe for one-year periods because of violence. Sunday's incidents did little to dampen the enthusiasm of JSK, whose third successive win means they keep the CAF Cup outright. A small band of supporters who traveled to Yaounde celebrated their success afterwards while Monday's Algerian newspapers all headlined the club's achievement on their front pages. It was their sixth African club competition title, just one short of the record seven triumph for Egypt club Al Ahli in the three annual tournaments. "We concentrated well and were very disciplined in our performance," said JSK's French coach Jean-Yves Chay on Monday. "We knew we were up against a team looking for revenge but our players are very experienced in African club competition and therefore it was no problem." Eight of the JSK squad have participated in all three CAF Cups triumphs, which also included a final win over Ismailia of Egypt in 2000 and Tunisia's Etoile Sahel last year. Dates set for 2004 African Nations Cup finalsJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- The 2004 African Nations Cup finals in Tunisia will be hosted at six different venues and be played from January 24 to February 14, the Confederation of African Football has announced. The six venues include the newly-built stadium at Rades, on the outskirts of the capital Tunis, which was used for last year's Mediterranean Games and the El Menzah stadium in Tunis where the final of the 1994 African Nations Cup, which Tunisia also hosted, was played. The other venues are the Olympic stadium in Sousse, also used in 1994, the Tayeb Mniri stadium in Sfax, the October 15 stadium in Bizerte and the Ben Jeannet stadium in Monastir. The tournament dates have taken into consideration FIFA's new coordinated international calendar ands the rainy season in the north African country, CAF said. The dates were announced in Tunis on Sunday night after CAF president Issa Hayatou conducted an inspection visit. The CAF congress, at which Hayatou's long-standing presidency is expected to be come under strong challenge, will be held two days before the kick off of the tournament, in Tunis on January 22. The draw for the four opening round groups at the 16-team tournament will be conducted in Tunis on September 20 next year. Qualification for the 2004 finals ends in July when 14 teams will progress to the final tournament along with the hosts and Cameroon, who are the holders of the African title.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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