South African Giant Mamelodi Sundowns Wins Inaugural African Football League
November 14, 2023
With the victory in the tournament, the ghosts of last year's CAF Champions League semi-final were exorcised for the mighty Masandwana
By Boris Esono Nwenfor
Sundowns, who had lost 2-1 a week earlier in Morocco, overcame their deficit thanks to goals from Peter Shalulile and Aubrey Modiba to lift the trophy
BUEA, November 14, 2023 – South African giant Mamelodi Sundown have been crowned champions of the inaugural edition of the rebranded African Football League. The team defeated Wydad of Casablanca to win the trophy on Sunday. With the victory in the tournament, the ghosts of last year's CAF Champions League semi-final were exorcised for the mighty Masandwana
Sundowns, who had lost 2-1 a week earlier in Morocco, overcame their deficit thanks to goals from Peter Shalulile (45th+3rd) and Aubrey Modiba (53rd). The team from Pretoria, who had already won the CAF Supercup six years ago, thus claimed the first trophy in the richly endowed competition launched this autumn.
"I am so lucky to be in charge of this magnificent group of players," said Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena. “My thanks to the yellow nation (Sundowns supporters) for their wonderful support from the first minute to the last.”
"It is difficult to talk now. This is a very emotional time for me. There has been so much heartbreak after some previous matches against Wydad. Now there is joy," Rulani Mokwena added.
Mamelodi Sundowns did not only go home with the beautiful African Football League trophy but also went back with a sizeable cheque. Masandawana's bragging rights were crowned with a whopping sum of $4 million, which works out to R74mil, per reports.
Wydad AC will receive $3mil (R55.6mil) for finishing second, the semi-finalists will receive $1.7mil (R31.5mil), and the quarterfinalists take home $1mil (R18.5mil).
In previous rounds of the eight-club competition, Sundowns beat Petro Luanda of Angola and record 11-time CAF Champions League winners Al Ahly of Egypt.
"What an incredible atmosphere here in Pretoria, South Africa. The first-ever final of the African Football League. Mamelodi Sundowns won, congratulations to them. Congratulations as well to Wydad Casablanca, who played a remarkable match," said Gianni Infantino on the pitch amid the full-time celebrations.
"Great game, great atmosphere, this public is a champion already. African football won today. This is a great day for Africa, it's a great day for football, it's a great day for the world."
For this first edition, its debut format brought together eight of Africa’s most famous and successful teams — Wydad, the Sundowns, Tout Puissant Mazembe (Congo DR), Espérance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia), Enyimba Football Club (Nigeria), Atlético Petróleos de Luanda (Angola), Simba Sports Club (Tanzania) and Al Ahly FC (Egypt) — and kicked off with teams paired in two-legged quarter-finals.CAF, who battled to secure sponsorship for the League, hope to expand it to 24 clubs for the 2024-2025 season.
