SWITZERLAND — Sudan has lost top spot in its 2014 World Cup qualifying group after sport's highest court stripped a victory against Zambia for fielding an ineligible player. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said it rejected the Sudanese Football Association's appeal against a FIFA ruling to award Zambia a 3-0 win by default. CAS said Sudanese officials “couldn't not be aware of the fact that” Saif Ali was suspended and ineligible to face Zambia last June. Ali scored in Sudan's 2-0 win in Khartoum, four months after being sent off when the same teams played an African Cup of Nations quarterfinal. The court's ruling puts Zambia top with six points from two matches, three ahead of Ghana. Sudan falls to third with one point. Lesotho also has one point. Record 12-goal CAF Cup romp for Gabonese Gabonese club US Bitam created a CAF Confederation Cup record when its overwhelmed Desportivo Guadalupe from Sao Tome e Principe 12-1 at the weekend. The preliminary-round rout was the biggest victory margin in the 10 years of the second-tier pan-African competition, eclipsing a 9-0 victory by South African side SuperSport United in the second edition. Bitam entered the return match in northern Gabon with a 5-0 lead and the 17-1 aggregate score is also a record for a competition created after the African Cup Winners Cup and CAF Cup were discontinued. A team with limited African experience, Bitam is likely to find scoring much more difficult in mid-March when its travels to Nigeria for a last-32 first leg fixture against Heartland. Former African title winners Gor Mahia and Power Dynamos had mixed luck with the Kenyans winning 5-0 in the Seychelles to advance and the Zambians losing 2-0 in Angola to go out. Gor travelled across the Indian Ocean to Victoria with some trepidation having been held 0-0 at home two weeks ago by Anse Reunion, and having lost four games without scoring in two previous Confederation Cup appearances. However, it took Paul Kiongera less than one minute to end the goal drought, and he added a second before Christopher Wekesa put the Nairobi outfit three goals ahead just 20 minutes into the game. Edwin Lavatsa and Kevin Omondi netted in the second half to complete a remarkable turnaround by the Kenyans, and the reward is a visit to Egypt for a clash with ENPPI. Power Dynamos traveled to central Angolan city Huambo with a one-goal lead, but it was insufficient as it fell 2-0 against Recreativo Caala. Bougouni defeated Haut Nkam of Cameroon 2-0, while compatriots Onze Createurs whipped Ivorian visitors Stella 3-0. — Agencies
