Otogo-Castane to officiate Al-Ahly clash against JS Saoura

CAIRO - 15 January 2019: CAF Referees' Committee has selected Gabonese referee, Eric Otogo-Castane, to take charge of Al-Ahly clash against Algerian club, JS Saoura, on Friday at the CAF Champions League group stage.

Castane has officiated four games for Al-Ahly and the Egyptian team managed to achieve two victories while they lost the other two games.

The last game Castane officiated for Al-Ahly was against Tunisian giants, Esperence, at 2018 CAF Champions League group stage; the game ended with a 1-0 victory for Al-Ahly thanks to a goal from Walid Azzaro.

Al-Ahly will travel to Algeria on Tuesday to prepare for the game and the team will miss their starting strikers, Azzaro and Marwan Mohsen, who are sidelined over injuries.

Al-Ahly's new signing, Hamdy Fathy, appeared in the squad for the first time after Al-Ahly completed the deal with his former club, Enppi, on Sunday.

Also, Al-Ahly Nigerian striker, Junior Ajayi, returned to the team squad after he fully recovered from the injury that sidelined him for three months.

Lasarte's chosen squad for the game consists of:

Goalkeepers:

Sherif Ekramy, Aly Lotfi, Mohamed el-Shenawi,

Defenders:

Ali Maaloul, Ayman Ashraf, Mohamed Hany, Karim Nedved, Yasser Ibrahim

Midfielders:

Ahmed Hamoudi, Hamdy Fathy, Amr el-Solia, Walid Soliman, Hussein el-Shahat, Ramadan Sobhy, Eslam Mohareb, Nasser Maher, Mohamed Sherif, Mido Gaber

Striker:

Junior Ajayi

Al-Ahly opened the group stage with a 2-0 victory over Congo’s Vita Club thanks to Nasser Maher and Ali Maaloul's goals, while the Algerian team lost their first game 3-0 to Tanzania’s Simba.