BREAKING NEWS: CAS dismisses USM Alger appeal over 2024 RS Berkane second-leg forfeiture

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal filed by Algerian club USM Alger against the decision that confirmed their 3-0 forfeit to RS Berkane in the second leg of their controversial 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup semi-final.

The ruling, issued in Lausanne on April 8, 2026, brings another chapter to the long-running legal dispute between USM Alger, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF), CAF and Moroccan club RS Berkane.

According to the CAS ruling, the appeal filed by USM Alger against the decision rendered by the CAF Appeals Board on July 22, 2024, was dismissed.

The court also declared the separate appeal filed by the Algerian Football Federation inadmissible and upheld the July 22, 2024 decision of the CAF Appeals Board.

The dispute originated from the second leg of the Confederation Cup semi-final between RS Berkane and USM Alger in Berkane on April 28, 2024.

The fixture was not played after USM Alger refused to participate over the continued use of RS Berkane’s controversial shirt featuring a map of Morocco that included Western Sahara.

CAF subsequently awarded Berkane a 3-0 victory by forfeit. USM Alger appealed the decision, but the CAF Appeals Board rejected the appeal on July 22, 2024, prompting the club and FAF to take the matter to CAS.

In its conclusion, CAS noted that the CAF Appeals Board’s decision of April 21, 2024, which maintained the approval of RS Berkane’s disputed shirts, was still in effect at the time of the second match.

The panel further concluded that USM Alger refused to play the second match without the referee’s authorization.

As a result, CAS determined that the appeal brought by USM Alger against the July 22 decision could not succeed.

The ruling follows CAS’s earlier decision in February 2025 concerning the shirts themselves, when the court found that the RS Berkane jerseys, insofar as they displayed a territorial map carrying a political message, were contrary to CAF regulations. However, that decision did not alter the sporting outcome of the 2023/24 Confederation Cup.

RS Berkane ultimately advanced to the final, where they faced Egyptian giants Zamalek, while USM Alger’s continental campaign ended at the semi-final stage.

The latest CAS ruling therefore confirms that the 3-0 forfeiture awarded to RS Berkane for the second leg remains intact, despite the wider legal controversy surrounding the Moroccan club’s shirt.

USM Alger have since gone on to enjoy further continental success, winning the 2026 CAF Confederation Cup after defeating Zamalek on penalties in the final.