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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is examining the dispute between the Comoros Football Federation (FFC) and the African Football Confederation (CAF) on May 29 about Cameroon's participation in the African Cup of Nations. nations 2019 (June 21-July 19 in Egypt). The Comorians believe that the CAF should have sanctioned the Cameroonians in the playoffs, when they were removed the organization of the CAN 2019. The CAS will give reason to the FFC?
Will the 2019 African Nations Cup of Nations get a new twist just three weeks before the start of the finals (21 June-19 July)? This May 29, in Lausanne, Switzerland, is neither more nor less than the fate of the titleholder and former host country of the CAN 2019 is played.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), supreme body on sports disputes, is indeed on Wednesday on a dispute between the Comoros Football Federation (FFC) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for several months. about the presence in Egypt of the Cameroon team.
The latter was one of three opponents of the Comorian team, with Malawi and Morocco, during the CAN 2019 qualifiers .
The tournament rules at the heart of the debates
In the eyes of the Comorians, CAF did not respect the rules of the competition. The FFC asserts that the Confederation should have sanctioned the Cameroonians on November 30, 2018, when the CAF considered that the country of Paul Biya would never be ready in time to host the big celebration of African football.
In fact, according to paragraph 3 of Article 92, if the country supposed to organize the final phase " withdraws or is withdrawn " less than a year before the start of the tournament, " it will be inflicted [ ...] (a) suspension at the next edition of the CAN ".
The French version of the text states: " without taking into account the edition concerned ". An ambiguous formula on which the CAS should look.
This is not the only question that the CAS will have to answer. It will first assess whether the Comorians have exhausted all possible recourse to the CAF, before turning to his services. If this is the case, the arbitrators in charge of the case will then attempt to interpret the settlement.
Outstanding issues
First question: Do Cameroonians fall under Article 92? On the side of the CAF, it is emphasized that no, because the Cameroonian authorities would not have withdrawn or seen withdraw the organization of the Africa Cup of Nations. The main argument of the governing body of African football is that the dates of the tournament in Cameroon would have simply changed, since the CAN 2021 will finally take place on the lands of the "Indomitable Lions". " It's a postponement, not a cancellation ", insists the CAF boss, Ahmad.
Then, assuming section 92 applies, would a possible penalty apply to CAN 2019 and / or CAN 2021? We come back to the famous " without taking into account the edition concerned ". Could the CAS consider that Cameroon must in fact be disqualified for the African Cup it is supposed to host in two years? This is not to be excluded and it would give rise to an improbable situation.
Finally, if the CAS finds that this case concerns CAN 2019 and not the 2021 edition, what kind of punishment could it inflict on "Lions"? For the Comorians, the answer is simple: their selection must replace that of Cameroon in the final phase. Because, according to the FFC, the Comoros should have won on the green carpet the last match of the playoffs, won 3-0 by Cameroonians , March 23 in Yaounde, in particular under Article 61 of the regulation. However, if the CAS decides to disqualify altogether the reigning African champion, all his results in group B will be erased. And in this case, the country that would finish second in the standings, behind Morocco ... would be Malawi.
Last eventuality: the CAS concludes that the situation is unprecedented. In this case, Article 117 of the African Cup of Nations rules stipulates that " unforeseen cases [...] shall be decided by the CAF Organizing Committee ".
Comoros play big
By embarking on this legal battle, the Comoros play big. The FFC has launched a subscription to pay court fees of tens of thousands of euros. It has altered the current direction of CAF, as well as Cameroon, one of the powers of African football. But for Comorians, who have invested a lot in football in recent years, it is a matter of principles and respect.
The "Coelacanthes" are preparing the CAN 2019 as if they were going to play it, waiting for a decision from the CAS that should fall before the start of the tournament. They will play a match against the Ivorians, on June 7, in the north of France.