Cameroon Reached Semi-Finals amid DR Congo Fury over Covid Tests

Hosts Cameroon reached the semi-finals of the African Nations Championship for the first time Saturday after a 2-1 win over a team from the Democratic Republic of Congo angered by the test results of Covid-19.

Reports of Congolese unhappiness with the pre-match Covid-19 testing dominated the build-up to the quarter-final as 13 of the visiting delegation were found to be positive, reports AFP.

Intervention by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) led to further tests, handled by a different laboratory, and the number of positive cases shrunk to two players and a physiotherapist.

“We rejected the first results and asked for a second opinion,” Congolese official Theo Binamungu confirmed to reporters in coastal city Douala.

Those cleared to take part in the quarter-final following the Covid drama included DR Congo coach Florent Ibenge, who missed two of the three group matches because he was in quarantine.

In the CAF club competitions, this season with Asante Kotoko of Ghana and FC Platinum of Zimbabwe, reports of rigged Covid tests emerged among those going public over unhappiness with results this season.

In the Champions League qualifiers, both clubs claimed that the results were manipulated by opponents to deprive them of some key players.

DR Congo took the lead in Douala through a Makabi Lilepo header on 21 minutes and Yannick Ndjeng levelled eight minutes later when goalkeeper Ley Matampi dropped the ball at the Cameroonian's feet.

A hopeful long-range shot by Felix Oukine as half-time approached took a deflection and evaded Matampi to land in the corner of the net for what proved the match-winning goal.

There were few clearcut scoring chances in a tense second half and Cameroon progressed to the semi-finals, where this Wednesday they would face defending champions Morocco or Zambia.

Cameroon's victory reinforced their dominance of the Nations Championship tournament over DR Congo by winning both previous meetings, in 2011 and 2016.

It was a bad day for Congolese football as Congo Brazzaville also exited the competition for home-based footballers by losing 5-4 on penalties to Mali after a 0-0 draw in Yaounde.

The first and last of 10 spot-kicks proved decisive with Congolese Price Mouandza missing the first and Malian Mamadou Coulibaly converting the last.

Mali await the winners between Guinea and Rwanda in the other semi-final, which is also scheduled for Wednesday.