l’ombre de l’USM Alger plane sur Berkane – Le Jeune Indépendant

An institution serving Lekjaa

CAF, Lekjaâ version, therefore maintained the controversial final despite the Algerian side’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. USM Algiers, the victim of the dirty games of the president of the FRMF and his puppets within the structure responsible for managing continental football who chose to obey the finger and the eye of its Moroccan administrators, remained at Algiers with the hope of seeing TAS rule as quickly as possible on the merits of a case which will never stop being talked about.

The cauldron of the Berkane municipal stadium was once again in the spotlight, hosting on Sunday evening the controversial first leg of the CAF Cup final between RS Berkane and Zamalek of Egypt following a characterized theft. On arrival, a victory (2-1) for the Moroccan representative who must fight hard to maintain his meager advantage at the mark (1 very small goal) which risks proving insufficient when he travels, in a week, in the Egyptian capital. A Cairo stadium which will naturally be full with no less than 50,000 Zamaleki spectators expected.

No need to remind our neighbors to the West that this time (in principle) they must rely on their talent alone to emerge unscathed from a match which will be played on the green rectangle alone, the manipulations and other shenanigans of Fawzi Lekjaâ should not be enough to make the difference. Once again, the ghost of the reigning champions, the Algerian Red and Black, will hover over the heads of the “Berkanis” who only owe their presence at this level of the competition to the incredible capacity for nuisance of their president. which definitively brought the African body to its feet, revealing in the process the enormity of the tensions raging there.

A serious crisis of credibility, even legitimacy, with management personnel (the overwhelming majority of Commission presidents, notably following the example of the two competitions and disciplinary commissions) confirming among others, and as the former Egyptian international would say , Ahmed Hossam-Mido who has just stepped up to the plate with extremely serious accusations against this Confederation subservient to the Makhzen, where he denounces what he rightly considers as a total takeover of Lekjaâ which makes rain or shine: “the headquarters of CAF is located in Egypt while the decisions are taken in Morocco” he asserts.

Which highlights, once again, the nagging question of independence and transparency, two crucial notions that these gentlemen from CAF are completely unaware of. Trampling on and violating the regulations of Fifa, yet guarantor (we will not say moral authority) of respect for its statutes.

What will happen next Sunday on the banks of the Nile which risks once and for all overflowing, taking with it the aims of the boss of Cherifian football and by extension of the king of African sport, in the absence of the elected president, Motsepe, who chose to flee his responsibilities and let the puppeteer Lekjaâ operate on conquered territory?

Sportingly, the small success of the Moroccans and this small goal in advance may not weigh heavily in the balance. And it would only be fair if RS Berkane, qualified for the final without playing and who showed its expertise in the art of dubious dealings, returned empty-handed within its walls.

Against a backdrop of injustice with the blessing of structures to be reviewed towards the outgoing champion, the USMA, which chose to rely on the CAS (whose president of the arbitration appeal chamber decided not to opt for the temporary suspension of the controversial final) in order to recover his rights. For a resounding victory in terms of the law. Politics that one. More beautiful and it is worth a thousand trips to Lausanne.