In last CAF Confederation Cup duel between Fovu Baham of Cameroon and Paynesville of Liberia, the Cameroon sides fielded just eight players and lost the game, 4-0.
A Confederation of African Football official told AFP that: “only eight of the Fovu players who travelled to Monrovia were registered for the competition”, meaning they could only have one more player on the pitch than the FIFA minimum of seven, as required by the regulations.
According to Inside the Games publication, it was not immediately known why the Cameroonian side did not take at least 11 eligible players to Liberia for the first-leg of the first round to field a full team, but it later emerged that the problem was due to an administrative error.
The club’s administrators made a mistake and failed to register the remaining players with CAF, making them ineligible for the match.
Playing with one goalkeeper and seven outfield players, Baham were no match for the hosts, who scored twice in each half to take a commanding aggregate lead ahead of the return leg on 25 August.
Fovu Baham are a Cameroonian football club based in the town of Baham and were founded in 1960 as Pégase. They currently play in the Elite One, Cameroon’s top flight
Mark Paye scored in each half for African debutants Paynesville, with the other goals coming from Lawrence Kumeh and Dean Weah.
Fovu’s inability to field 11 players came 24 hours after another unusual incident in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.
AS Otoho of Congo Brazzaville travelled to Equatorial Guinea to play 15 de Agosto, but the match was abandoned because a concert was being held at the stadium.
CAF then ordered both legs to be played in Congo, the first on 25 August and the second three days later.
