Egyptian clubs advance in the CAF Champions League

Zamalek, the five-time competition winners, waited until the final moments to secure their own 1-0 win over hosts APR FC of Rwanda in Kigali, with a goal from Nasser Mansi in the final minute of regulation time.

However, Mansi was handed a "heavy financial penalty" by his club as a result of his goal celebration. After the 28-year-old scored the winner, he celebrated by throwing the Zamalek jersey on the ground.

This comes in light of Mansi's declining role with the team recently in terms of participation, as he was on the bench for the match against the Rwandan champions.

His club said in a statement, "The player apologized... he accepted the penalty imposed on him and announced this in a video he recorded immediately after the match, and the player was notified of the value of the financial fine imposed on him."

For his part, Mansi offered his apology, writing on his Instagram account, "I feel that I must apologize to every fan of the club who felt upset by me for throwing the jersey. It was a wrong action on my part and I apologize sincerely, and no matter the pressure or emotion I was going through, this is not a justification for the behavior and I accept any penalty."

Egyptian clubs have won the continent's premier club competition 19 times, a record, led by Al Ahly with 12 titles.

Al Ahly only finished third in the last Egyptian league behind Zamalek and Pyramids, and will not participate in the Champions League this season.

Instead, they will compete in the CAF Confederation Cup, the second-tier competition, starting with a preliminary match away against Uganda's Kitara on Saturday.

Al Ahly has participated in every edition of the Champions League since 2004. During this period, the Cairo "Red Devils" have won the competition nine times and finished as runners-up four times.

Five other first-leg matches will take place on Saturday, most notably a summit between two former champions, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Club Africain of Tunisia.

The winners of the 16 second-round ties, which conclude on October 25, will advance to the six-round group stage, where the minimum prize money is 500,000 US dollars.