The CAF Champions League regulations on yellow cards have kept Mamelodi Sundowns at lower risks for the rest of the competition as they seek to lift the trophy for the second time.
Sundowns are through the semi-finals of the Champions League and according to CAF will play the first leg at home on April 17, before heading to Cairo for the return leg the following Thursday (April 24).
The two dates for the final against either Pyramids or MC Alger/Orlando Pirates are May 23 and May 31.
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As they seek to get into the final and lift the trophy, Sundowns will be aiming to have all their players available for selection in the four matches to be played if they get to the decider.
The subject of suspensions will be of interest considering what has happened so far in the competition and with the four yellow cards they received on Tuesday against Esperance.
Bathusi Aubaas, Khuliso Mudau, and Aubrey Modiba have already served their suspensions after being red-carded in the group stage.
The trio faces the risk of double the second sanction should they get three yellow cards or be sent off again this season, this as per CAF rules.
Marcelo Allende, Lucas Ribeiro Costa (twice), Teboho Mokoena, Jayden Adams, Malibongwe Khoza, Mosa Lebusa, Ronwen Williams, Divine Lunga, and Iqraam Rayners were all yellow-carded in the group stage, but all those cautions have since been wiped off as they didn’t lead to suspensions at the end of the group stage.
Into the knockout stages, Teboho Mokoena was the only Sundowns player cautioned in the first leg at Loftus and now has Williams, Ribeiro Costa, Peter Shalulile, and Grant Kekana in the list of those yellow-carded on Tuesday.
Based on yellow cards, any one of them can only be then suspended for one match in the competition this season if they get another two cautions.
If any of them gets two yellow cards in the two games against Al Ahly and Sundowns go through, then they will miss the first leg of the final.
The CAF rules read:
“A player who receives three cautions shall be automatically suspended from playing the subsequent match in CAF inter-clubs competitions.
“This automatic suspension shall be communicated by the Secretariat to the concerned associations.
“If the same player accumulates, later on in the same competition, three more cautions in three different matches or is sent off, then the second sanction will be doubled, and the player will be suspended for two subsequent matches.
“At the end of the group matches, the cautions that do not lead to a suspension are cancelled.
“A player sent off the field by the referee is to be automatically suspended from playing the subsequent match of the clubs competitions without prejudice to other sanctions, which the Organising Committee might impose on him subsequently.
“A player sent off the field by the referee in three matches or has received nine cautions in nine different matches of the same competition is automatically suspended from all the matches his team is due to play up to the end of the competition, without prejudice to other sanctions the Organising Committee might impose upon him subsequently,” reads part of the regulations.
“Before every match, the Secretariat of CAF shall communicate to the match commissioners and referees the name(s) of the suspended player(s).
“In this case, the suspended player(s) shall be prohibited from taking part in the match.
“This prohibition shall be declared by the commissioner and/or the referees designated by CAF. Defaulting commissioner and/or the referees shall be sanctioned by CAF.
“However, the tallying of these sanctions remains the responsibility of the national association and they will assume all responsibilities.
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“A team which will have committed a fraud on the identity of a player or which will have allowed a suspended or non-qualified player to take part in a match shall lose the match and shall be completely eliminated from the competition as soon as the incriminating facts are clearly established by CAF Organising Committee.
“A team official who receives two cautions shall be automatically suspended from the subsequent match in CAF inter-clubs competitions.
“This automatic suspension shall be communicated by the Secretariat to the concerned associations,” states the rules.
