Kamal Hasina, president of the Ittihad Al-Asimah club, spoke to the Algerian media upon his arrival with his team’s delegation from Morocco, following the withdrawal of his team against Morocco’s RS Berkane in the second leg of the African Confederation semi-final.
The Algerian Al-Muntabak newspaper published statements by the club president, in which he expressed his optimism about regaining his club’s rights to the Confederation Cup.
Hasina said, “We held a technical meeting on the night of the match, and we informed them that if they decided to play in the shirt that carried the map, we would refuse to play. Indeed, they brought that shirt, and we did not enter to play the match, which is the same as our position in the first leg.”
Regarding the “CAF” decisions, Hasina said, “They approved our defeat in the first leg with a score of 0-3, and in turn we filed a complaint and the right is with us. We reviewed all the laws and they are in our favor, and our hopes are high to regain our rights in the CAF Cup.”
On the other hand, Moin Chaabani, the coach of the Moroccan team RS Berkane, commented on the upcoming confrontation against Zamalek in the Confederation Cup final, after they qualified for the match scheduled to be held back and forth on May 12 and 19 next.
Moin Chaabani described the Zamalek club as an “experienced club” after the referee of the match announced the withdrawal of USM Algiers and the victory of RS Berkane and its qualification to the Confederation Cup final.
Chaabani said, in media statements, most notably the Moroccan Championship website: “The final will be against Zamalek. It is an experienced team, and the same goes for RS Berkane.”
Moin Al-Shaabani added: “Before the Zamalek match, there is a match against the Royal Army, and if we have to prepare well to face the Egyptian team, we must also prepare for the local match.”
He continued: “Our preparations will be in a competitive manner. We have not played for two weeks, and against the Royal Army, we will complete 20 days of absence from competition.”
He concluded: “We are trying to compensate with training, although nothing compensates for matches, and we have been working with the players for some time on the physical aspect.”
According to the Championship website, the USM Capital team is now threatened with exclusion from participating in continental competitions for two years, in addition to a fine of no less than $50,000.
