Paris (AFP)

It's an earthquake! After the controversy born of a breakdown of the VAR, the CAF chose Wednesday to play again on neutral ground, and after the CAN which begins in two weeks, the final return of the Champions League, a new and disputed decision.

There is no winner between Esperance Tunis and Wydad Casablanca for the moment, but there is a loser, African football, as the African Cup of Nations approaches (21 June-19 July) in Egypt in a troubled context.

The African Confederation (CAF) has fueled the debate around this meeting, which is supposed to be its showcase, cutting in favor of Moroccans who, Friday, pulled out in the middle of the match to protest against the breakdown of assistance to the video arbitration (VAR). This could have allowed to validate them a goal refused by the referee.

The package of the WAC in incredible conditions, marked by clashes and long discussions between leaders, allowed Tunisians to celebrate the title in front of their public, Radès ... for five days only.

"The conditions of play and security were not met during the return leg of the CAF Champions League final, preventing the match from coming to an end, so the return match will have to be replayed on a regular basis. land outside Tunisian territory, "said the adviser to President Hédi Hamel.

"The match will be played after the CAN at a scheduled date, and the competition management needs to take stock of what has been decided," he said.

- Tunis in front of the CAS? -

Symbol of the stormy context, it took seven hours of discussions and two meetings to the executive committee, convened urgently in Paris, to decide the fate of this match that poisons the image of the continent.

"We want to have equality between the two teams! It is the right decision to play the match," jubilated Mohamed, a wydadi supporter who, with a score of others, gathered in front of the hotel CAF . "It's still positive for us," Zakaria said after him.

In Tunis, fans denounce a decision "shameful" on social networks. Esperance must unite its leadership to formally take a position, but internal sources at the club, leaders prepare to go "to the end of the proceedings", beginning with a referral to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"We are not going to sit idly by, it's an absurd decision, a dangerous first that opens the door to other challenges including during the CAN," said the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The storm is not over. In addition to setting a precedent, this unprecedented decision poses several questions, particularly at the level of regulation and logistics, suggesting that the cup and medals that must make the Tunisian club, will remain for a while in Cairo, at the headquarters of the CAF.

The principles of Ifab, the governing body of the rules of the game in football, stipulate that a match can not be invalidated by a failure of the VAR. CAF's own competition rules also state that if a team withdraws from the second game of the final, despite the circumstances, the other is sacred.

- "Question of credibility" -

He also ensures that all matches in the African Champions League must "be played before the month of July of the year following the start of the competition", while the final of the CAN is scheduled for July 19 in Cairo.

Also, with what strength will play the two teams, who will record movement during the summer transfer window? And in which country?

Only certainty, the score of the first leg (1-1) in Casablanca, already tainted by an arbitration controversy, is preserved.

"I saw that there were problems, it's unfortunate ... (...) It's a matter of credibility for all of Africa," Fifa boss Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday. day of his reelection for a second term, before the announcement.

African football is at a turning point in its credibility: already weakened by the chaotic process of designating Egypt as the host country for the next CAN in January, after Cameroon was removed from the organization in confusion, is entering a new period of turmoil.

Before the opening match between Mohamed Salah's team and Zimbabwe, the uncertainties, born of tight deadlines, security fears and hot weather, and the state of infrastructure, still hover over the land of the Pharaohs , who had only six months to prepare the biggest CAN in history, with 24 caps.

The decision has an impact also on the preparation of the selections of Morocco and Tunisia, two favorites for the title. How far will the shakes go?

? 2019 AFP