Ismaily kicked out of Caf Champions League after fan violence

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Ismaily have been kicked out of the CAF Champions League after fans threw stones and water bottles at an assistant referee and opposing players during a match against Club Africain.

In the 86th minute of the Group C fixture on January 18, with Club Africain leading 2-1 at Ismaila Stadium, a section of home fans targeted visiting players and an official with missiles.

The visitors had come from a goal down to lead courtesy of two penalties scored by Ghazi Ayadi, the latter of which appeared to incense the home crowd as the referee initially awarded a free-kick before changing the decision after consulting an assistant.

Following an increasingly fraught second half the referee abandoned the match after several attempts to restart play, with the officials and players of both teams escorted to the dressing rooms by security personnel.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has therefore decided to exclude Ismaily from this season’s competition and nullify their earlier results in the group.

CAF confirmed the news in a statement on Wednesday, citing article three of chapter 12 of the competition regulations, which reads: ‘If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of regular time because of invasion of the field or aggression against the visiting team, the host team shall be considered loser and shall be eliminated from the competition, without prejudice to the sanctions existing in the regulations.’

With the Egyptian side eliminated, Group C now sees Constantinois top with six points from two games, with Club Africain and TP Mazembe on zero points, having played one match each.

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Dean Workman