Tunisian club Esperance fined for African Champions League disorder

The finalists, who face an uphill task of reaching the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, are fined $50,000 due to crowd violence in their semi-final in Cairo.

JOHANNESBURG // Tunisian club Esperance has been ordered to pay for damage at Cairo International Stadium caused by the club's fans at an African Champions League semi-final match.

The African football confederation (CAF) also fined Esperance $50,000 (Dh183,640) for "violence perpetrated by spectators" during their October 3 match against Al Ahly.

Egyptian television broadcast live pictures of visiting Tunisians attacking policemen. At least 14 Esperance fans were arrested after they also ripped out seats and set off flares.

Esperance lost the first leg 2-1 but advanced to the final on away goals by winning the return game 1-0.

CAF fined Esperance a further $15,000 for their players' "aggressive behavior" during the first leg of the final, a 5-0 defeat to the Congolese club TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi on October 31.

TP Mazembe were also warned over poor security at their home stadium. The return leg is on Saturday at Rades, near Tunis.

TP Mazembe's semi-final opponent, Algeria's JS Kabylie, were also punished after the CAF's disciplinary committee met on Saturday.

Kabylie must play their next continental competition match in an empty stadium for its fans' "repeated and abusive use of projectiles" at the second leg match on October 16. A scoreless draw took the defending champions TP Mazembe through 3-1 on aggregate.

CAF also fined Kabylie $20,000.

In other decisions, the CAF fined the Central African Republic football federation $10,000 because of fans invaded the pitch during an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Algeria last month.

The Madagascar Football Association was fined $10,000 for fans throwing objects on the pitch during a qualifier against Ethiopia.