Shilongo's Ismaily disqualified

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has booted Egyptian side Ismaily out of the CAF Champions League after crowd violence forced the abandonment of their home match against Club Africain.The match was abandoned in the 86th minute a fortnight ago, after angry home supporters resorted to throwing stones and bottles at match officials and the visiting team.Cameroon-born referee Neant Alioum ordered the players back to the change rooms as the crowd shenanigans escalated.Soon after, a match official reported the matter to CAF, which subsequently decided to disqualify the Egyptian team from the competition.This was confirmed on CAF's Twitter account. “ANNOUNCEMENT. Organising committee decision: Ismaily SC eliminated from #TotalCafCL 2019 (sic),” the CAF tweet said.The 26-year old Shilongo joined the club in December, replacing Nigerian forward Okiki Afolabi, who had his contract terminated.“I will just focus on the game. However, it's sad to be out (of the CAF Champions League), but it's beyond our control. We just have to dust ourselves off and focus on league football,” he said.Ismaily is currently in 14th place in the league, with Shilongo having scored three goals so far.If his form continues, the Namibian has a chance of being called up for the national side, if the Brave Warriors manage to beat Zambia in March to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be hosted by Egypt.The country has faced ongoing battles against crowd violence at football stadiums in recent years, and there is currently a limit of 5 000 spectators per domestic fixture.In 2016, Algerian outfit Entente Sportive de Setif were also disqualified by CAF after similar scenes in a game against South African team Mamelodi Sundowns. In 2012, 74 Al Ahly fans died during a game against Al Masry in Port Said, which led to local fixtures being played in front of empty stadiums for around seven months, before the 5 000-supporters-per-match rule was implemented. In early 2015, tragedy struck again when Zamalek fans died in a stampede.Ismaily's results from their Group C CAF Champions League matches have been declared null and void. This means Algerian outfit CS Constantine remain top of the group with six points after their victories over TP Mazembe and Club Africain. Club Africain and TP Mazembe both have zero points from one match played each. -Additional reporting Nampa/ANALIMBA MUPETAMI

Shilongo's Ismaily disqualified

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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Shilongo's Ismaily disqualified

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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