'The CAF Champions League Final Needs To Be Investigated'

Wydad Casablanca's president has called on the 2019 CAF Champions League final to be investigated after Esperance were controversially crowned CAFCL Champions despite the second leg of the cup final being abandoned.

Tired of reading? Click through the gallery above to relive some of the moments from Saturday's controversial final!

The first leg of the clash was already marred by controversy, with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) taking centre stage in the tie, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

The all-important second leg followed suit as Tunisian outfit Esperance were awarded the cup in Rades after Moroccan side Wydad's refusal to continue proceedings with the aggregate score at 2-1 due to the VAR being unavailable to judge a disallowed equaliser.

In a bid to persuade the referee to utilise VAR to overturn the disallowed equaliser, incensed Wydad players and technical team members appealed with the man in the middle.

However, with VAR said to have been installed on the side of the pitch, but not being utilised due to technical issues, their appeals fell on deaf ears, which resulted in Wydad's players leaving the field of play as a form of protest.

Referee Bakary Gassama blew the full-time whistle following an hour of uncertainty, handing Esperance their second successive CAF Champions League title.

Wydad president Said Naciri has since weighed in on the matter, revealing that they will take the case to FIFA.

  "We didn't leave the pitch. We were waiting for the referee's decision to check the VAR or use any camera," he told BBC Football.

"I can't understand why the referee was waiting for instructions from other people to take his decision.

"We will defend our right by all means. We will go to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), giving them all the details and legal documents to defend our right."

Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa echoed Naciri's sentiments, revealing that the federation will offer support to Wydad during the appeal.

"We will support Wydad by addressing FIFA and CAS because we cannot accept awarding the Champions League title to Esperance under unfair conditions," Lekjaa said.

Egyptian referee Gehad Gerisha is currently serving a six-month suspension for his "errors" in the first leg of the encounter, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Read: How Salah Drew Inspiration From UCL Final Defeat

Do you think the second leg of the CAFCL final should be replayed? Have your say in the comments section below.

 

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