Al Ahly Protests CAF Over Postponed Fan Ban Appeal Ahead of Esperance Clash

Egyptian club Al Ahly has announced it has lodged an official protest with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the postponement of the appeal it submitted concerning the fan ban imposed for the second leg of their CAF Champions League quarter-final against Tunisia's Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

In an official statement, the club explained that it initially received notification that the appeal hearing would take place tomorrow at 11:00 AM. This was followed by a new notification postponing it to 1:00 PM, and then another informing them of an indefinite postponement. This comes despite the crucial second leg against Esperance being scheduled for next Saturday at Cairo International Stadium.

Al Ahly's protest stressed the necessity of respecting regulatory frameworks, emphasizing that an appeal is a legal right for the club and must be decided before the upcoming match. The club also argued that the penalty issued against them did not consider the principle of progressive sanctions, especially given that the incident involved the throwing of some water bottles onto the pitch.

The club pointed out that its fans had not previously committed such an error during the current competition, with the exception of the team's match against AS FAR in the final group stage round.

Al Ahly called on CAF to expedite the review of the appeal to ensure fairness for the club and grant it the right for its fans to attend, even if at a specified percentage of the stadium's capacity, similar to some comparable cases seen in African competitions previously.