The Moroccan Football Federation announced on Thursday that it has received a letter from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) declaring that Algerian club USM Alger, the defending champions, has lost its away match in the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup against Moroccan club RS Berkane with a score of 0-3 due to the "held shirts" crisis. The statement read: "USM Alger loses three goals to nil. The match file has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee for possible additional disciplinary measures."
RS Berkane has officially qualified for the final of the CAF Confederation Cup, which will be held against Egyptian club Zamalek on May 12 at the municipal stadium in Berkane, with the return match on May 19 in Cairo.
Players from USM Alger failed to enter the municipal stadium in Berkane on Sunday, April 28, while the Moroccan players entered about fifteen minutes past the scheduled start time of the match, which was canceled. The first leg match in Algeria, held on April 21, was also canceled after the Moroccan team protested against the Algerian authorities who had detained their luggage at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, as the team's official shirt contained a map of Morocco that included the disputed Western Sahara.
RS Berkane arrived at the "5 July" stadium but remained in the locker room until the match's start time passed, while USM Alger entered the field against the referee's instructions for a game that never actually started. CAF decided to consider USM Alger as losing 0-3 for the first leg.
Additionally, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced its rejection of the appeal submitted by the Algerian Football Federation against the decision issued by the Appeals Committee of CAF on April 24.
