Esperance won the CAF Champions League in Tunisia, Saturday after Wydad Casablanca refused to continue playing on 60 minutes because VAR was unavailable to judge a disallowed equaliser.

Referee Gambian Bakary Papa Gassama speaks with Wydad team players after the Video assistant referee (VAR) system did not work and the match was interrupted during the 2nd leg of CAF champion league final 2019 football match between Tunisia’s Esperance sportive de Tunis and Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club at the Olympic stadium in Rades on May 31, 2019. – The VAR did not work and the match was interrupted.

 (Photo / AFP) The Tunisian side were leading 1-0 in the second leg of the final and 2-1 overall when play was halted, and after a 90-minute delay the referee awarded the match to the home side.

It is the first time in the 55-year history of the elite African club competition that a match in the home-and-away final series has not been completed. 

Wydad believed they had levelled on 59 minutes when Walid el Karti headed a cross into the net. TV replays confirmed he was onside, but might have fouled an opponent with his shoulder. 

The Moroccan team insisted that the Gambian referee check with VAR, apparently unaware that the often controversial system was unavailable. Wydad substitutes and 69-year-old coach Faouzi Benzarti joined in the protests and police foiled an attempted assault by a spectator wearing the red and gold of Esperance.