By Victor Kanayo
An Egyptian Club Future FC, have been hit with sanctions by the Confederation of African Football, (CAF) for allowing an illegal player participate in the ongoing 2022-2023 football season.
This was disclosed in a statement via the CAF online channel.
Part of the statement reads, “Future FC will be considered as a loser in their matches against the Moroccan team FAR Rabat in the fourth round of the group stage and Togo’s ASKO de Kara in the fifth round, as well as their match against Egyptian team Pyramids FC in the final round.”
According to CAF, the decision came, after it was discovered that Future FC had included player Ahmed Refaat in their African squad, who had gone on loan to the UAE’s Al-Wahda earlier in the season before returning to the Egyptian team in the recent winter transfer window.
The 29-year-old left winger was included in the team squad as a main player, which violates the regulations.
The development prompted Pyramids FC and FAR Rabat to submit a formal letter to CAF before the sixth round of the Confederation Cup to discuss the validity of Refaat’s participation, which led to CAF’s determination that Future FC had committed a violation of the rules.
In addition to the deduction of six points from Future FC’s score, CAF imposed a financial penalty of $10,000 on the Egyptian club.
Future FC have been eliminated from the Confederation Cup, after finishing third in their group with only 10 points, one point behind the group leaders, FAR Rabat, and one point behind Pyramids FC, who ranked second in the group.
Already, the competition has entered the quarter-final stage, with fixtures rolled out by organisers.
