Nigeria’s representatives in the CAF Champions League, Sunshine Stars, have qualified for the semi-final of the continental competition after Etoile du Sahel were disqualified from the tournament for crowd violence.
CAF said in a release on Monday that Etoile’s rioting supporters caused the abandonment of a group-stage match against defending champions Esperance on August 18.
Article 7 paragraph 6 of the competition’s regulations says, “If the referee is forced to stop the match before the end of the 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.”
Hence, Etoile’s results from their four Group B games have been cancelled, giving way to Esperance and Sunshine Stars to advance to the semi-finals.
Etoile, the 2007 champions, also face a two-year ban for the offence.
Sunshine Stars, making their debut in the continental competition, had drawn goalless with Etoile in Tunisia in July and were expected to host the Tunisians this weekend in the second-leg fixture in Ijebu Ode.
The contentious game in Sousse , Tunisia was called off in the 69th minute after Etoile’s fans invaded the pitch while others threw missiles including stones, bottles and firecrackers, CAF said.
It is the first time a club has been expelled in the middle of the group stage.
Etoile fans swarmed on to the pitch after bitter rivals Esperance had taken a 2-0 lead.
Some supporters went on to the playing surface just before halftime when Esperance scored their first goal but they were quickly removed by security officials.
Tunisian football has largely been played behind closed doors since the revolution in the country last year, mainly due to fear of crowd violence.
A go-ahead for spectators to be allowed back to the grounds was recently granted at the behest of the financially-strained clubs.
Since the pitch invasion in Sousse , Tunisia ‘s sports ministry has again banned fans until the end of the season next month.
