Sports
Egyptian Referees Take Over Heartland/Mazambe Game
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has appointed a new set of referees for Sunday’s CAF Champions League final, first leg match between Nigeria’s Heartland FC and TP Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri.
Earlier, the continental governing body had picked South African Jerome Damon to be the centre referee, with Cameroonian Evariste Mekounde as Assistant Referee 1 and Damon’s compatriots Enock Molefe and Abdul Basit Ebrahim as Assistant Referee 2 and Reserve Referee respectively.
However, CAF on Tuesday announced that Egyptian Abdel Fatah Essam will now be centre referee, while his compatriots Hassan Sherif, Mohamed Waleed and Farouk Mohamed will be Assistant Referee 1, Assistant Referee 2 and Reserve Referee respectively.
But Togolese Gnofame Zoumarou is retained as the Match Commissioner while Djibril Traore of Mali will be General Coordinator.
Sunday’s match in Owerri will be a tough test of character for both teams, who cancelled themselves out in both legs during the group phase. Heartland fell 0-2 to TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi, while the Nigerian flag –bearers won the second game between both teams on Owerri by the same margin.
Tout Puissant Englebert Lubumbashi, fore –runner of TP Mazembe, won the then African Champions Cup successively in 1967 and 1968, and the feat was not repeated until Nigeria’s Enyimba won two times in a row in 2003 and 2004.
Mazembe even came close to winning a third title on the trot in 1970, only to lose 1-2 on home soil to Ghana’s Asante Kotoko after both teams finished 1-1 in the first leg of the final in Kumasi.
CAF has also appointed Algerian referee Mohamed Benouza to be centre referee of the return leg match, which will take place at the Stade de La Kenya in Lubumbashi on Saturday, November 7.
Egyptian Abdel Naby Nasser will be Assistant Referee 1, with Mamar Chabane as Assistant Referee 2 and Mohamed Benaissa as Reserve Referee. Egyptian Mazen Marzouk will be General Coordinator, with the Match Commissioner to be appointed on match day.
The Kenya Football Federation (FKF) has launched an investigation into allegations that goalkeeper Patrick Matasi has been involved in match manipulation.
The 37-year-old, who plays for Kenyan Premier League club Kakamega Homeboyz, has won over 30 international caps.
His most recent appearance for the Harambee Stars came in October last year, in a qualifier for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
An undated video posted online appears to show Matasi agreeing a deal to influence the outcome of a league game.
“I have spoken to him. He was also shocked at what he was seeing in the video and he told me he doesn’t know about match-fixing,” Homeboyz owner Cleophas Shimanyula told Tidesports source .
The FKF said it would work with world governing body Fifa, the Confederation of African Football and other “relevant authorities” during its investigation.
“We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and are committed to safeguarding the credibility of our competitions,” a statement added.
“This investigation will adhere to FKF’s anti-match manipulation regulations and Fifa guidelines, ensuring a fair, transparent, and thorough process.
“The rights of the player and his club will be respected, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.”
Shimanyula backed Matasi, pointing to the fact the veteran has kept three clean sheets in as many games since joining the club a month ago.
“When we watched this video, we found that Matasi has not wronged the club,” he said.
“In a video there can misinterpretations and false narratives and we cannot trust everything.
“He will keep playing for us because there’s no wrongdoing on his part as far as we are concerned – unless there’s evidence or the FKF writes to us to say they are suspecting the player of some wrongdoing.
“He is innocent until proven guilty and then we will act.”
The FKF has called on anyone with credible information to assist its investigation, with any reports to be handled with strict confidentiality.
Shimanyula also challenged the Kenyan footballing community to provide evidence against Matasi.
“Kakamega Homeboyz is against any form of match manipulation,” he said.
Uefa has opened an investigation into allegations of indecent conduct by four Real Madrid players during their Champions League last-16 win against Atletico Madrid.
Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Dani Ceballos allegedly made gestures towards the home fans after Real Madrid beat their city rivals on penalties to book their place in the quarter-finals.
TV pictures showed German defender Rudiger appearing to make a throat-slitting motion, apparently towards the crowd after the shootout victory, while Mbappe was shown seemingly making a crotch-grabbing gesture.
Spanish media said Atletico reported the actions to Uefa last week.
The players could be at risk of suspension but there is no guarantee the case will be heard before their quarter-final with Arsenal. The first leg for that tie is at Emirates Stadium on 8 April and the return leg a week later.
In a statement, Uefa said: “[An] ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct” made by the four Real Madrid players.
“Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”
The Premier League has announced it will have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup.
The window will open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then close for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September.
This summer features the first expanded Fifa Club World Cup, which involves 32 teams and adopts the format of the regular World Cup of the past few years.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League teams in the tournament which takes place in the United States from Sunday, 15 June.
But the Premier League can only have 12 weeks of a summer window – hence the five-day break in order to run it until 1 September.
Fifa has allowed new players to be registered for the Club World Cup from 1-10 June, and again from 27 June-3 July for the knockout stage.
This is happening firstly, to bring order to the global registration system, world governing body Fifa only permits the transfer window in any individual country to be open for 16 weeks in any calendar year.
In Europe, precedent dictates four of those weeks are for the winter window, leaving 12 in the summer. In 2024, the Premier League transfer window opened on 14 June and closed on 30 August.