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Seven teams defending unbeaten records on matchday 4

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Arthur Sales of Mamelodi Sundowns celebrates goal with teammates during the CAF Champions League 2025/26 match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Hilal at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria on the 23 January 2026 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

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Staff Reporter

Friday Jan 30, 2026. 11:00

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RS Berkane, Pyramids, Al Ahly, Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Hilal, Stade Malien and ES Tunis are all still unbeaten as we head into the return legs of the CAF Champions League group stages this weekend.

The matchday 4 action gets underway on Friday night as Al Hilal play host to Mamelodi Sundowns at the Amahoro Stadium (Kigali).

The Brazilians lead the way in Group C on goal difference ahead of the Blue Wave after they played out to a 2-2 draw on January 23 to remain level on five points each.

The early kick-off on Saturday pits Young Africans against perennial title favourites Al Ahly at the Amaan Stadium (Zanzibar City).

The Red Eagles top Group B on seven points following their 2-0 victory over Yanga on January 23, leaving Pedro Goncalves’ side three adrift of them in second place.

In the first of two matches taking place in the evening, Petro de Luanda will be looking to keep their quarter-final hopes alive when they welcome Stade Malien to the Estadio 11 de Novembro (Luanda).

The Tricolores saw their unbeaten run in Group D come to an end with a 2-0 defeat to Les Blancs on January 25 which put them one point behind ES Tunis in third spot and two adrift of Pascal Janin’s side.

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Two teams desperate to get going in Group B sees AS FAR entertain JS Kabylie in the late match at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium (Rabat).

Al-Zaeem and the Canaries remain winless after they shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw on January 24, having picked up their first point each on matchday 2 against Al Ahly (1-1) and Young Africans (0-0) respectively.

Sunday’s games start with Simba hosting ES Tunis at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium (Dar es Salaam).

The Reds of Msimbazi have yet to put a single point on the board in Group D after losing 1-0 to the Blood and Gold on January 24, with Maher Kanzari’s side trailing Stade Malien by two points in second place.

A few hours later, defending champions Pyramids will continue to duke it out with RS Berkane for top spot in Group A when they lock horns at the 30 June Stadium (Cairo).

Two teams could not be separated after playing out to a goalless draw on January 24 and they are still tied on seven points, although the Orange Boys sit in pole position by virtue of having scored more goals.

In a concurrent match at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium (Uyo), Rivers United and Power Dynamos will go in search of their first wins in Group A.

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Both clubs are facing elimination after they registered their first point with a 0-0 draw on January 24, placing them six behind the frontrunners at the halfway stage.

The weekend’s fixtures conclude with a clash between MC Alger and Saint-Eloi Lupopo at the Ali La Pointe Stadium (Algiers).

El Mouloudia have struggled in the competition this season after picking up just one point from their opening three games and they were beaten 1-0 by the Railmen last time out to keep Christian Bracconi’s side in touch with the top two in Group C on four points.

CAF Champions League matchday 4 fixtures:

Friday, January 30

21h00: Al Hilal v Mamelodi Sundowns

Saturday, January 31

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15h00: Young Africans v Al Ahly

18h00: Petro de Luanda v Stade Malien

21h00: AS FAR v JS Kabylie

Sunday, February 1

15h00: Simba v ES Tunis

18h00: Pyramids v RS Berkane

18h00: Rivers United v Power Dynamos

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21h00: MC Alger v Saint-Eloi Lupopo

CK Updates

Commonwealth Games 2026: Soppy socks & a slathering of deep heat – rain causes chaos in Glasgow

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England's Amy Hunt celebrates winning a silver medal in the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

Some athletes struggled in the conditions.

England’s Morgan Lake did not clear the bar with any of her three efforts in the high jump.

Similarly, Scotland’s Steven Stone had attempts with his glasses on his face and the top of his head in the men’s T20 long jump but did not register a clean effort.

Northern Ireland’s Kate O’Connor said she was “gutted” with her throw of 12.85m in the heptathlon shot put.

“It just kept slipping out of my hands,” she said.

“When your chalk gets wet, it’s like you might as well have dish soap on your hands and I just probably spent too much time and effort trying to stay dry rather than doing the cues that I work on in training.

“I can’t blame anybody else apart from myself for not executing.”

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But there were also a number of impressive performances given the conditions.

O’Connor responded by running a dominant 24.14 seconds in the 200m to reclaim top spot of the heptathlon competition. England’s Jade O’Dowda was only eighth quickest and slipped back to second, 49 points in arrears.

In the men’s 100m, Eseme’s winning time of 9.83 was a Commonwealth Games record, the third-fastest time this year and moved him third on the all-time list of African sprinters.

The hammer throw and the high jump were briefly paused but when the former did resume Canada’s Camryn Rogers produced another Games record – 74.91m.

Even Hunt, who was slow out of the blocks and off the pace for the first 60m, finished 0.01secs outside her lifetime best of 10.97 in the women’s 100m which was won by New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs.

“I am just proud of myself for gritting it out and trusting my long legs,” Hunt said.

“Ultimately, we all have to race in the same conditions. We are all on the start line together freezing.

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“You just have to get out there and get it done.”

A smattering of hardy locals even stayed until the final anthem was sung as the clocked neared 11pm.

It was a night few will forget.

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CK Updates

Kick It Out calls for tougher sanctions as football discrimination reaches new high

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Kick It Out logo

The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers – a semi-professional team in Bradford.

During Ramadan last year, he was racially abused by a group of opposition spectators as he was waiting to come on as a substitute.

“It was our first game playing while we were fasting,” he said. “So obviously we were hungry that day and I was a bit less patient.

“Then when I was getting ready to come on, one of the fans said I should shave my beard off and that I looked like a paedophile.

“One of them picked up a child who was about six, seven years old, and said ‘I bet your wife’s the same age as this child’.”

Umar described the men as in their sixties.

“It’s quite distressing, because they’re older than my dad,” he added. “They’re my grandad’s age, and they felt comfortable enough to stand there and make comments like that.”

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Umar said the assistant referee heard the comments and told the referee, who he claims did not take any action.

The police were eventually contacted and the spectators identified. Umar has not been informed of an outcome.

His manager Mohammed Patel was in the dugout during the match and said – while the opposition coaching staff apologised on behalf of their fans – he felt the officials fell short and should have removed those spectators shouting racist and Islamophobic abuse at his players.

Patel said: “It was a really emotional day for us, because the question we asked ourselves after that game is ‘Why is it still happening?’ Some of the things that were said were absolutely horrific.

“In my opinion, more needs to be done from the top down. We’re actively engaging and working with local FAs to try and navigate this problem, but it absolutely needs to be mandated.”

The Northern Counties East Football League fined the opposition club £300 and gave them nine disciplinary points. But Patel says that does not address the real problem.

“We’ve seen harsher punishments for violent conduct on the pitch or red cards, even administrative mistakes,” he added.

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“Something as serious as this, we were absolutely not happy with the result.”

Patel has been lobbying the Football Association, but has not yet received a response.

He said: “Precedents need to be set, harsher sanctions need to be introduced. This comes from the top down.”

The FA said in a statement: “We have introduced tougher sanctions for clubs and individuals, a new behaviour improvement programme, and penalty points accumulation charges in the grassroots game.

“This builds on the steps taken to allow for deductions of league points from clubs that are repeated offenders of serious misconduct.”

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CK Updates

Commonwealth Games 2026: Gymnast Ruby Evans wins first gold for Wales

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Ruby Evans in her gymnastic routine

Gymnast Ruby Evans has won Wales’ first Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow with victory in the floor final.

Evans, 19, performed the final routine of the women’s programme and defeated England’s Abigail Martin into silver, with her team-mate Shantae-Eve Amankwaah securing bronze.

Evans left the arena in tears on Sunday after her disappointing sixth in the all-round individual competition, that after Wales finished fourth in the team event.

Now, after Welsh identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other on Monday, Evans has delivered gold.

It was the first victory for Team Wales in Scotland and a ninth medal alongside two silver and six bronze.

There is also a guaranteed podium position for boxer Connor Williams after he reached the semi-finals.

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