MC Alger hit with stiff punishment as CAF announces sanctions for incidents from CAF club competitions
- Andrew Olsson
- Apr 17
- 2 min read
The quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup provided plenty of drama last week. With the high amount of passion came numerous incidents involving players, technical staff and supporters with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) handing down multiple punishments on Thursday.
The most notable sanctions came against MC Alger who engaged in mass confrontations with the referee crew and staff running onto the pitch after a late penalty kick appeal was denied. Below is CAF's statement on MC Alger's series of punishments:
The CAF Disciplinary Board charged charged MC Alger with violating Articles 82 and 83 of the CAF Disciplinary Code as well as Articles 32 and 35 of the CAF Safety and Security Regulations in their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League fixture against Orlando Pirates (1 April, 2025)
The Club was found guilty. The guilty verdict forces the execution of the suspended disciplinary sanction pronounced by the Disciplinary Panel on 24 November 2024, namely the obligation to play two (2) matches behind closed doors during its next matches of the CAF club competition, in which Club MC Alger (Algeria) will play as the host club.
MC Alger also received a fine of USD 10,000 for the lighting of smoke bombs and a further USD 20,000 for the use of laser pointers. Lastly, a fine of USD 10,000 has been imposed for the throwing of objects.
In a separate judgement arising from the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League fixture against Orlando Pirates (9 April, 2025), the CAF Disciplinary Board suspended Mr. Mohamed Khezrouni, assistant coach of MC Alger, for four (4) matches, for violating articles 82 and 123 of the CAF Disciplinary Code. A fine of USD 15,000 has also been imposed on Mr. Khazeroun.
Abdelkader Oussama Menezla, MC Alger player, was suspended for two (2) matches, including one (1) suspended match for one year.
A fine of USD 100,000 has been imposed for the inappropriate behaviour of its players and officials.
But MC Alger was not the only club punished. Fellow Algerian clubs USM Alger and CS Constantine were punished as well as Morocco's AS FAR, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates of South Africa, Egypt's Pyramids FC and Tunisian giants Espérance.
Most of these punishments came from fan misbehavior including use of laser pointers, improper behavior of supporters and in the case of Pyramids, crowd control and ticketing issues arising from AS FAR supporters being kept out of the stadium for the first leg of their Champions League clash.
Mamelodi Sundowns were fined $100,000 after failing to provide adequate safety and security measures for visiting Espérance supporters in South Africa. Orlando Pirates had a club official banned for multiple matches while defender Nkosinathi Sibisi and goalkeeper Sipho Chaine received one-match suspensions, each of which were suspended for one year meaning they will be available for the Champions League semifinals beginning this weekend. Pirates were fined $70,000 for the infractions.
