Afcon hosts fined for violence

Morocco banned for next two tournaments and fined for pulling out as hosts.

Security officers grapple with a supporter during the 2015 African Cup of Nations semi-final football match between Equatorial Guinea and Ghana in Malabo, on February 5, 2015. AFP

Agencies

The Equatorial Guinea football federation has been fined US$100,000 (Dh367,300) and ordered to pay for the treatment of Ghana supporters who were injured by flying missiles during Thursday’s African Cup of Nations semi-final at the Estadio de Malabo.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) imposed the punishment yesterday and announced a one-match suspended ground closure on Equatorial Guinea, the tournament hosts who lost the semi-final 3-0.

The closure of the Malabo stadium will only be enforced should there be further trouble during today’s third-place play-off match there between Equatorial Guinea and DR Congo.

Announcing the sanctions on its website, CAF said 36 Ghana supporters were hurt after being attacked by home supporters, with 14 taken to hospital. It said one of those hospitalised was under close observation.

“To promote the spirit of Fair Play and friendship during the 2015 African Nations Cup, the committee has decided to suspend the closed-doors match on the condition that supporters are not guilty of such an infraction in the third-place match,” CAF said in a statement.

“In the event that identical incidents occur in the third-place match on February 7, the disciplinary committee of the CAF will automatically impose the behind-closed-doors sanction on the Equatorial Guinea team who will have to play their next official international match without spectators.”

Equatorial Guinea may have had a lighter punishment over Thursday’s drama had their supporters behaved until then, but the CAF pointed out it was a third offence after trouble involving the home fans in previous tournament games against Gabon and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Morocco have been banned from the next two tournaments and fined $1m for pulling out of hosting this year’s competition.

CAF also ordered the Moroccan Football Federation to pay compensation of $9m for losses sustained by CAF and its partners. Morocco pulled out of hosting the tournament because of the Ebola epidemic.

Morocco in October requested to postpone the tournament by a year before failing to respond to a CAF deadline in November to confirm whether they would go ahead with hosting.

After a meeting of the CAF executive committee in Malabo on Friday, the federation said in a statement: “Morocco had based its request to postpone the tournament by a year on 10 October 2014, on allegations ‘of the highest health risk’. Morocco cited the outbreak of the Ebola virus as a case of force majeure in justifying its request for postponement, citing in particular the risk of contamination of its population because of anticipated fans’ flows.

“CAF raised objections and inadmissibility of Morocco’s request who were obliged to state their position of withdrawal from the organisation of the 2015 Orange Africa Cup of Nations by 11 November 2014.

“The executive committee considered that, contrary to what the Royal Moroccan Football Federation cited, force majeure cannot be accepted for the benefit of the federation.”

CAF also confirmed the punishments, which see Morocco banned from the 2017 and 2019 editions of the African Nations Cup.

They won the competition in 1976 and were beaten finalists in 2004, but have since failed to progress beyond the first round.