Esperance of Tunisia, a four-time champion in Africa, announced on Friday that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ordered them to play four of their home matches behind closed doors because of fan-related violent incidents.
Violence erupted during their encounter against JS Kabylie of Algeria last Saturday at the Rades Stadium, resulting in a 40-minute delay in the second half of the quarterfinal’s return leg.
Esperance supporters and security personnel got into a fight, and they let off fireworks on the terraces, starting a number of small fires in front of the stands.
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Esperance stated that a $300,000 fine will also be imposed. If there are no more incidents, two of the four games that are subject to the stadium restriction will be postponed for a year.
With a 2-1 aggregate victory over JS Kabylie, Esperance advanced to the semi-finals and will face Al-Ahly of Egypt in the first leg on Friday.
Esperance stated that they would contest the penalty.