‘They Got Information on Social Media’ - St Eloi Lupopo CEO on Why Orlando Pirates’ Case is Dead on Arrival

Congolese club St Eloi Lupopo have dismissed a complaint filed by South African giants Orlando Pirates over them following their ill-tempered encounter last month.

Lupopo eliminated Pirates from the CAF Champions League preliminary round following a post-match penalty victory, having been tied 3-3 on aggregate, but in the aftermath of the game, the Soweto giants filed an appeal at CAF over a number grievances.

Pirates filed three cases against Lupopo, one against coach Guy Bukasa, as well as complaints over the fielding of two players, Henoc Molia and Ramos Khashala Wanet.

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The Buccaneers’ complaint against Bukasa is that he was not supposed to be in the dugout during their encounter in the second preliminary round, having been suspended by CAF, following a brawl during an Under-20 AFCON match against South Africa.

Molia, meanwhile, is alleged to have been registered outside the transfer window period while Wanet’s registration with Lupopo is being disputed as he allegedly holds two passports.

However, Lupopo CEO Jean-Luc Kapend has poured cold water over all those allegations, saying Pirates were getting their information on social media as his club did nothing wrong and have been cleared by CAF.

“Orlando Pirates took wrong information, [Ramos] Kashala was registered on 29 September, that was one day before the window closed,” Kapend said as quoted by South African outlet iDiski Times.

“The motivation of the complaint of Pirates, they announced the player by social media, out of the day of registration. The second player, [Henoc] Molia. In Congo, we change passports and the passport we used to register him is not old, it’s the valid passport.”

On their coach, Kapend says there is no provision that bars him from the dugout in club duties as that only applies to national team matches.

“With regards to Bukasa, it’s not a problem. There’s a problem of interpretation,” he added. “On the 29.6 article, all the suspensions can concern the competition of under-20 and all competitions of the national team.”

“CAF sent us the list of all the officials and the players, who were in suspension and in this list, you don’t find the name of Guy Bukasa. The competition will continue and for Lupopo, we are clean,” he further said.

Lupopo were placed in a tough Champions League group alongside Mamelodi Sundowns, MC Alger and Al-Hilal and are confident that their spot will not be taken away even after CAF confirmed receipt of Pirates’ appeal.