It was a victorious week for Egyptian football clubs, with four earning qualification to the next stage of Africa's two biggest club competitions, the Champions League and the Confederation Cup. What made the advance all the better was that Ahly, Zamalek, Masri and Pyramids played their last decisive games away from home. All-time Egyptian rivals Ahly and Zamalek qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League while Masri and debutants Pyramids are going to the same stage in the Confederation Cup. The draw for the knock-out stage was scheduled to be held in Cairo on Wednesday, after Al-Ahram Weekly had gone to press. Interestingly, when the knockout stages of this year's edition of the CAF Champions League kicks off later this month, eight present and former champions will appear in the quarter-finals. Between them they share 29 Champions League trophies, making this competition one of the most exciting ever. The list includes record eight-time champions Ahly of Egypt, their domestic rivals Zamalek and DR Congo giants TP Mazembe (five times each), title holders and four-time champions Esperance of Tunisia, three-time winners Raja Casablanca of Morocco, city rivals and two-time champions Wydad, and one-time winners each Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa. Zamalek was the first of the Egyptian clubs to confirm their qualification to the next stage in the Champions League when they picked up a point away to Primero de Agosto in Luanda. Primero's hopes of snatching at least one group stage win were dashed as they wasted several glorious scoring chances. Manuel Afonso came close for the home side with a shot that went against the crossbar. On the other end, Zamalek had a chance but Omar Al-Said's looping header missed. Primero had more chances in the second half with Ary Papel coming closest towards the end with a snap shot inside the box that was well saved by the hawkeyed Zamalek keeper Mohamed Hussein. In the other Group A match, youngster Jackson Muleka scored a brace as Congolese giants TP Mazembe ensured they finished top of the group with a comfortable 3-1 victory at home against Zesco United in their final group phase match in Lubumbashi. The victory saw them finish with 14 points, five ahead of second place Zamalek. Zesco and Primero finished the group without a single victory. Primero ended third with four points from four draws while Zesco finished bottom with three points, also from three draws. In Group B, Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel and Egypt's Ahly advanced to the quarter-finals. While it was an easy ride for Etoile, it was harder for Ahly whose away match against Sudan's Al Hilal saw the home fans take to the pitch during play, forcing the game to stop for some time. However, Moroccan referee Radwan resumed play after the Sudanese police and army escorted fans from the grounds. In Omdurman, the opening half was tense, one that saw numerous fouls and almost no chances for both sides. Five players went into the referee's book after being shown yellow cards, three from hosts Al Hilal and two from visitors Ahly. They went to the break with a barren stalemate. Two minutes after the break, Ahly took the lead through Mohamed Magdi, or Afsha. Amr Al-Soleya sent a curling cross to Hussein Al-Shahat who found Afsha to score from close range. Ahly dominated possession with Al Hilal looking nervous as they sought to find the equaliser. Substitute Mahmoud Abdel-Menaem, better known as Kahraba, came close to doubling Ahly's lead two minutes from time but his shot from close range went wide after rounding goalkeeper Jamal Salim Mugoola. Six minutes into injury time Al Hilal found their equaliser via substitute Abdul Razig Omar who scored after a scramble from inside Ahly's area. Time passed safely for Ahly as the draw sent Ahly to the quarter-finals alongside Etoile du Sahel. Meanwhile, in Rades, Etoile needed two goals after the break to defeat visitors Platinum. The opening half saw rare chances but a minute after the break Karim Aribi's header gave Etoile the lead. Etoile doubled their advantage via Malik Baayo after 70 minutes to go top of the group with 13 points, one more than Ahly. On Tuesday, CAF released its decision in a statement that read; Following incidents related to the Total CAF Champions League 2019/20 Match Day 6 between Al Hilal (Sudan) and Al Ahly (Egypt) played on Saturday,1 February 2020, in Omdurman, the CAF Disciplinary Committee met on Tuesday, 4 February 2020, and has decided as follows; The referee's report stated that match ended 1-1, therefore the result of the match is maintained and confirmed; Al Hilal ordered to play four (4) CAF Interclub matches behind closed doors; Fine of 100,000 USD imposed on Al Hilal; of which 50,000 USD is suspended on condition that they are not found guilty of a similar offence within one year; Five match CAF Interclubs ban and a fine of 10,000 USD imposed on Al Hilal official Hassan Mohamed. According to CAF regulations, in case a game is halted due to a pitch invasion, “if the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered the loser and shall be disqualified from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations.” Ahly had a tough time with Al Hilal in Omdurman But, since the referee resumed the match, such a regulation doesn't apply. Yet, if the referee's report included that he had to resume the game for fear of matters escalating, then the rule could apply. But, the report didn't. Acordingly, those decisions were taken. In the Confederation Cup, Pyramids bounced back from last weekend's loss to Rangers FC to beat Mauritania's FC Nouadhibou 1-0 and wind up their group stage campaign with victory. Though the Egyptian side was already assured of finishing top with 14 points, all the same they needed a morale boosting victory ahead of the quarter-finals. Ahmed Ayman Mansour scored the lone goal in the 59th minute to send the Egyptians to 15 points after winning five out of their six group matches. It was a game they dominated from the opening half and had several chances to score. Skipper Abdullah Mohamed had a good chance in the 13th minute with a shot from distance but it flew wide. Pyramids thought they had broken the deadlock in the 17th minute but Ragab Abdel-Azim's goal off an Amor Layouni cross was chalked off after the lanky forward had been adjudged to have pushed his marker as he rose to head in the ball. Meanwhile, in Enugu, Nigeria, star striker Ifeanyi George scored the equaliser to cancel out Mahmoud Wadi's early goal. The point saw Masri, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals, finish with 10 points and second spot while the Nigerian outfit finished with six points at third. Zamalek secured a place in the knock-out stage despite drawing with Angola's Primero Wadi broke the deadlock in the fifth minute when he ran onto a through ball from midfield, before calmly slotting past the keeper one on one. However, the Nigerians struck back in the 20th minute when George scored the equaliser with a neat tap-in after running onto a free kick from the right. Masri had a good chance in the second half but Mohamed Mohamed's shot from distance was well saved by the keeper. Rangers piled pressure seeking to sign out of the competition with a win in front of their home fans but they could not crack the Masri defence. On the other hand, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) issued a press release in which it expressed gratitude to FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA Secretary-General Fatma Samoura for their commitment in the CAF-FIFA cooperation for the development of African football. Following the expiration of the CAF-FIFA cooperation agreement, the CAF Executive Committee, after a thorough review of the reports compiled by the Reform Task Force, decided to continue with the implementation of reforms in the areas of refereeing, infrastructure, competitions and governance. The committee wants to implement significant aspects related to finance and administrative management with immediate effect, ensure the independence of judicial bodies as approved by the Executive Committee, and continue with discussions regarding legal and statutory aspects. *A version of this article appears in print in the 6 February, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
