Caf now hands Adel Amrouche six-match ban

Former Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche has expressed his relief after the continental football body cleared him of charges of spitting at a match official following his appeal.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) had earlier banned the Algerian-born coach for a year after finding him guilty of spitting at the fourth referee during Kenya’s 2015 Africa Nations Cup qualifier against Comoros in Moroni in May.

But Caf’s Appeal Board has now cleared him of the same offence.

“The Appeal Board, having reviewed new evidence on the record, including the DVD of the game, images provided by the appellant and the testimony of the Comoros coach, who was a direct eye witness of the altercation, concluded that there was no certainty as to the facts alleged against the appellant,” a statement on Caf’s official website stated.

“The most important thing is I am innocent and that has been proven already. And that is all I have to say for now,” the coach told Sunday Nation Sport on Saturday.

FRESH SIX-MATCH BAN

Amrouche was, however, slapped with a fresh six-match ban that was backdated to May 30, 2014,  and an additional $10,000 (Sh860,000) fine after the same sitting found him guilty of “repeatedly engaging in disrespectful attitudes against the central referee of the match and the fourth referee, especially following his ejection.”

This implies the coach is set to serve a three game ban at his new work station, having already sat out of the home and away ties involving Kenya and Lesotho, as well as the team’s friendly match against Burundi.

Following Kenya’s shock elimination from the African qualifiers football authorities in the country announced the sacking of Amrouche together with his entire technical bench.