AFCON 2025: CAF hits heavy sanctions against Algeria
Following the spills that occurred during the AFCON 2025 quarter-final against Nigeria on January 10, CAF has heavily hit Algeria. The sanctions affect three levels: players, the federation and supporters.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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Ten days after Algeria’s elimination in the quarter-finals against Nigeria (0-2), CAF has delivered its verdict following the incidents that occurred during the match. Through an official statement from the Algerian Football Federation (FAF), the continental body detailed a series of particularly severe disciplinary and financial sanctions.
The executives heavily affected
The behavior of some players after the final whistle was heavily sanctioned by the disciplinary commission:
Luca Zidane: The 27-year-old goalkeeper gets two matches of firm suspension for a physical altercation with the Nigerian Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. He will miss the start of qualifications for AFCON 2027.
Rafik Belghali: The right back is sanctioned with four suspension games (including two suspended). He is accused of a vehement behavior and a "relentlessness" towards the arbitral body, which he would have pursued even in the locker rooms.
More than 95,000 dollars in fine
Beyond the players, the Algerian Federation must also pay a total amount of 95,000 dollars, divided as follows:
Team behavior: 25,000 dollars for inappropriate behavior of players and officials at the end of the match and 5,000 dollars for the general brawl.
Behavior of the supporters: 50,000 dollars for gestures offensive towards the arbitration (exhibition of banknotes), 10,000 dollars for attempted invasion of the field and 5,000 dollars for the use of smoke.
The most striking fine ($50,000) concerns provocations by the Algerian public suggesting arbitral corruption through the display of banknotes, a gesture deemed "offensive and abusive" by the CAF.
The FAF counter-attacks
In the face of this verdict which it considers harsh, the FAF does not intend to stop there. The federal authority announced that it had immediately appealed these decisions. She hopes to obtain a reduction in sentences, both financially and for the duration of the suspension of her executive players, before the start of the next international campaign.