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Reports: CAF Super League Draw to be held in July

June 23, 2023

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said the CAF Super League is one of the most exciting projects in the history of African football

BUEA, June 22, 2023 – The “controversial” CAF Super League is expected to begin with 8 teams split into two pots of four teams. The draws for the competition backed by FIFA and CAF are reported to be held in July with the competition set to get underway in August or mid-October to the end of November of this year.

Teams in Pot 1 will be paired with teams placed in Pot 2. Pot 1 includes Al Ahly, Mamelodi Sundowns; Wydad AC and ES Tunis. Pot 2 contains Simba SC; TP Mazembe; Petro Luanda and Horoya AC.

Until now, Africa has had two annual club football competitions: the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup. The Champions League allows one African team to play in the annual FIFA Club World Cup. Besides that, however, these tournaments offer little else, either to football-crazy Africans or participating clubs.

The Africa Super League winner, for a change, will get almost as much as the CAF Champions League’s entire $12.5 million prize pot. The 24 participating clubs (not more than three per country) will get $2.5 million each, too.

The CAF Super League can be a starting point to transforming African football for the better

According to the Confederation of African Football, CAF, the Africa Super League will support the growth of club football, the construction and maintenance of football infrastructure and facilities, as well as the training and retention of football talent on the African Continent. Opponents of the initiative say the CAF Super League has come to kill the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup.

CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said: “This is one of the most exciting projects in the history of African football and will significantly contribute to the development and growth of the quality and competitiveness of football in Africa.”

The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino said: “As FIFA President, I am happy to witness such a historic moment of this exciting football project to boost and improve club football in Africa. African club football needs to be brought to the next level and to do that, it is important to be innovative and to have new ideas, while fully respecting the existing institutional framework. The Africa Super League, built within the international football pyramid structure, is a project which will make African club football shine in Africa and beyond.”

The Prize money of the Africa Super League will be USD 100 million, with the winner receiving USD 11.5 million. Some of the funding from the Africa Super League will be used to allocate USD 1 million per annum to each of CAF’s 54 Member Countries, which is a total of USD 54 million per annum to develop football in all the African countries.

Al Ahly celebrates after winning a record-extending 11th CAF Champions League

“The Africa Super League would contribute to ensuring that football on the African Continent is managed and operated at the same professional, ethical and governance level as UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF and other Confederations,” Dr Motsepe added.

Some fans have raised varying concerns about the Super League idea and one fan termed it 'bogus'. “CAF’s planned Africa Super League with sweeteners of $100 million with 24 clubs from 16 countries is disingenuous and would exclude most countries. Africa has 54 countries and CAF would have been devising ways of inclusion but it will become an affair of North, West & Southern Africa,” Elie Smith wrote on Twitter back in 2022.

“I think people have problems with the Super League because there is no clarity, how teams will qualify, how teams will be relegated. What is the source of the funds, what will happen to current completions (Caf Champions League and Confederation),” another fan questions.

With the CAF Super League, CAF is expected to receive USD 50 million per annum to develop football for boys and girls, to employ world-class staff, to improve and to make all its other competitions attractive and appealing to football spectators, TV viewers, sponsors and other partners.

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