The appeal by Moroccan club Wedad over the result of the second leg of their 2018-19 African Champions League final against Tarajy of Tunisia has been rejected by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Wedad hoped to overturn the decision of the CAF Disciplinary Board on Aug. 7 that handed the trophy to Tarajy after players from the Moroccan club abandoned the game following a disputed refereeing decision, a situation exacerbated by a non-functioning Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.
But the CAF Appeal Board found that Wedad had forfeited the match through their actions.
"The match officials’ reports were very clear that the Wedad Athletic Club’s players refused to resume the match even after several attempts conducted by the referee, to the point that the referee waited almost 90 minutes before he whistled the end of the match," read a statement from CAF on Monday.
"Therefore the Appeal Board confirms that the match was forfeited by Wedad Athletic Club because their players refused to resume the match."
Wedad now only have one choice which is to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
After the first leg in Morocco had finished 1-1, Tarajy were leading 1-0 in their home fixture when Walid El Karti's header for Wedad was canceled.
"…the Board underlined the fact that the absence of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has no legal effects whatsoever and that its sole purpose is to aid the referee to take the correct decision...," the Caf Appeal Board decision explained.
"That the referee is vested with the power to have the final decision on the field of play since the start of the game, and that his decision is not up to review by the Appeal Board.
"The match officials' reports were very clear that the Wydad Athletic Club's players refused to resume the match even after several attempts conducted by the referee, to the point that the referee waited almost 90 minutes before he whistled the end of the match.
"The Appeal Board has noted that the stoppage of almost 90 minutes was due to the Wydad Athletic Club's players' failure to resume the match, the players were then instructed to resume play by the referee who has seen his attempts fail to no avail.
"Therefore the Appeal Board confirms that the match was forfeited by Wydad Athletic Club because their players refused to resume the match."