Organising body | CAF |
---|---|
Founded | 1964 (rebranded in 1997) |
Region | Africa |
Number of teams | 16 (group stage) 68 (total) (from 56 associations) |
Qualifier for | |
Related competitions | CAF Confederation Cup |
Current champions | Al Ahly (11th title) |
Most successful club(s) | Al Ahly (11 titles) |
Television broadcasters | List of broadcasters |
Website | cafonline.com/champions-league |
2023–24 CAF Champions League |
The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League [1] and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and contested by top-division African clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout stage, and then a home and away final. It is the most prestigious club competition in African football.
The winner of the tournament earns a berth for the FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament contested between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations, and also faces the winner of the CAF Confederation Cup in the following season's CAF Super Cup. Clubs that finish as runners-up their national leagues, having not qualified for the Champions League, are eligible for the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup.
Egyptian clubs have the highest number of victories (17 titles), followed by Morocco with 7. Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco have the largest number of winning teams, with three clubs from each having won the title. The competition has been won by 26 clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once. Al Ahly is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament a record 11 times.
Al Ahly are the current African champions, having beaten Wydad AC 3–2 on aggregate in the 2023 final.
Established in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs, the first team to lift the trophy was Cameroonian team Oryx Douala who beat Stade Malien of Mali 2–1 in a one-off final. [2]
There was no tournament held the following year, but the action resumed again two years later in 1966, when the two-legged 'home and away' final was introduced, which saw another Malian team AS Real Bamako take on Stade d'Abidjan of Ivory Coast. Bamako won the home leg 3–1 but it all came apart for them in the away game in Abidjan as the Ivorians went on to win 4–1 to take the title 5–4 on aggregate. [3]
In 1967 when Asante Kotoko of Ghana met TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (or the DRC for short), both matches ended in draws (1–1 and 2–2 respectively). CAF arranged a play-off, but Kotoko failed to appear [4] and the title was handed to Mazembe, who went on to win the title again the following year. [5]
However, the Ghanaians got their revenge in 1970, when Kotoko and Mazembe once again met in the final. Once again, the first game ended 1–1, but against expectation, the Ghanaians ran out 2–1 winners in their away game to lift the title that had eluded them three years earlier. [6]
The 1970s saw a remarkable rise in the fortunes of Cameroonian club football, which created the platform of success enjoyed by Cameroonian football at international level today.
Between 1971 and 1980 Cameroonian teams won the cup four times, with Canon Yaoundé taking three titles (1971, [7] 1978 [8] and 1980 [9] ) and US Douala lifting the cup in 1979. In between the Cameroonian victories the honor was shared with another team enjoying a golden age, Guinean side Hafia Conakry, who won it three times during this period (1972, [10] 1975 [11] and 1977 [12] ). It is
Apart from the introduction of the away goals rule, very little changed in this competition until 1997, when CAF under Issa Hayatou took the bold step to follow the lead established a few years earlier by UEFA by creating a league/group stage in the tournament and changing the name to the CAF Champions League (in line with UEFA's own Champions League). CAF also introduced prize money for participants for the first time with the initial offering of US$1 million to the winners and US$750,000 to the runners-up, making the rebranded competition the richest African club competition at the time.
In the new format, the league champions of the respective CAF member countries go through a series of qualification rounds until a round of 16 stage. The 8 winners are then drawn into two groups of 4 teams each, with each team playing each other on a home and away basis. At the end of the league stage, the top team in each group met in the final, in two-legged games (home and away).
In the 2001 season, the CAF introduced the semi-finals after group stage, then the top two teams in each group met in the semi-finals, with the winners going through to contest the final.
Beginning with the 2009 season, the prize money increased to $1.5 million for the champions and $1 million for the runner-ups. Since the competition rebranded in 1997, teams from North Africa have come to dominate the competition and its records. Morocco's Raja CA won two of the first three editions, [13] but Al Ahly became the most successful team, winning the tournaments in 2001, [14] 2005, [15] 2006, [16] 2008 [17] and 2012, [18] while Zamalek managed to be champions in 2002. [19] Tunisian teams broke into the championship with the title of Étoile du Sahel, which in 2007 was proclaimed champion after being finalist in 2004 and 2005. [20] For its part, Espérance de Tunis achieved its second continental title in 2011 after having lost in the final in the 1999, 2000, 2010 and 2012 editions. [21]
Despite the clear dominance of North African teams, in 2003 and 2004, Nigerian team Enyimba won their first two championship titles. [22] [23] ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast and Accra Hearts of Oak from Ghana added two championships for West Africa. In 2010, TP Mazembe from the DRC became the first club to repeat as champions on two occasions, with the first pair of wins arriving in 1967 and 1968, [24] [25] before repeating the feat again in 2009 and 2010. [26] [27] In 2017, the group phase was expanded from 2 groups of 4 teams to 4 groups of 16, with the addition of an extra knock-out round.
The 2020–21 season was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa inline with global football leagues and competitions. Nevertheless, Al Ahly faced bitter rivals Zamalek in an-all Egyptian final (the first time two clubs from the same country compete in any final in CAF competition history), [28] with the former emerging victorious and winning its ninth title. [29] Al Ahly successfully defended their title for a record-extending 10th time the following season by beating Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa, [30] but were unable to secure a 3rd consecutive title in a row and 11th title in 2022 as they were defeated 2–0 by Moroccan club Wydad AC who instead captured their 3rd CAF Champions League title. [31]
With the introduction of the Africa Football League in the 2023–24 season, CAF plans to keep the Champions League, as the new competition will not be its replacement. [32] However, CAF could potentially eliminate the group phase and have the competition exclusively made up of two-legged knockout matchups, as per the original format in 1964 to 1996. [33]
The CAF Champions League is open to the winners of all CAF-affiliated national leagues, as well as the title holders from the previous season. From the 2004 season onward, with the merging of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup to create the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup, the runners-up of football leagues of the 12 highest-ranked countries also enter the tournament, making up a total of 64 in-competition teams. The 12 countries would be ranked based on the performance of their clubs in the previous 5 seasons/editions of the competition (the plain definition of the CAF 5-year ranking ). [34]
The number of teams that each association enters into the CAF Champions League is determined annually through criteria as set by the CAF Competitions Committee. [35] The higher an association's ranking as determined by the criteria, the more teams represent the association in the Champions League, and the fewer qualification rounds the association's teams must compete in.
The CAF Champions League operates primarily as a knockout competition, with trim-down qualification rounds, a group stage, a two-legged knockout stage and a one-off final. At the start of the competition, the 64 qualified teams enter 2 qualification rounds: the preliminary stage and the first round. After the first qualifying round, the remaining teams are split into four groups of 4, whereas the teams each first-round winner vanquished transfer to the second qualification round of the Confederation Cup for hopes of group stage progression. The winners and runners-up of each group progress to the two-legged knockout stage for hopes of progression to a one-off final for a chance to lift the trophy for their member association.
In October 2004, MTN contracted a four-year deal to sponsor CAF's competitions worth US$12.5 million, which at that time was the biggest sponsorship deal in African sporting history. [36]
In 2008, CAF put a value of €100 million for a comprehensive and long-term package of its competitions when it opened tenders for a new sponsor, which was scooped up by French telecommunications giant Orange through the signing of an eight-year deal the following year in July, whose terms were not disclosed. [37]
On 21 July 2016, French oil and gas giant, Total S.A., secured an eight-year sponsorship package from CAF to support its competitions, including its main competition, the Africa Cup of Nations. [38] In 2021, Total rebranded as TotalEnergies, although it remained as the competitions' title sponsors. [39]
Current Sponsors:
Title Sponsor | Official Sponsors | Former Sponsor | Ball Supplier |
---|---|---|---|
Each year, the winning team is presented with the African Champion Clubs' Cup, the current version of which has been awarded since the competition name change in 1997. Forty gold medals are presented to the competition winners and 40 silver medals to the runners-up.
In 1997, CAF introduced prize money for the eight participants in group stage for the first time in an African football club competition. This first trunch lasted until 2008.
Final position | Prize money |
---|---|
Champions | US$1,000,000 |
Runners-up | US$750,000 |
Semi-finalists | US$427,500 |
3rd in group stage | US$261,250 |
4th in group stage | US$190,000 |
Between 2009 and 2016, CAF increased prize money to be shared between the Top 8 clubs as follows: [49]
Final position | Prize money |
---|---|
Champions | US$1,500,000 |
Runners-up | US$1,000,000 |
Semi-finalists | US$700,000 |
3rd in group stage | US$500,000 |
4th in group stage | US$400,000 |
From 2017 to 2022, CAF increased prize money to be shared between the Top 16 clubs as follows: [50] [51] [52]
Final position | Prize money |
---|---|
Champions | US$2,500,000 |
Runners-up | US$1,250,000 |
Semi-finalists | US$875,000 |
Quarter-finalists | US$650,000 |
3rd in group stage | US$550,000 |
4th in group stage | US$550,000 |
* Note: National Associations receive an additional equivalent share of 5% for each amount awarded to clubs.
In 2023, CAF increased prize money to be shared between the Top 16 clubs as follows [53]
Final position | Prize money |
---|---|
Champions | US$4,000,000 |
Runners-up | US$2,000,000 |
Semi-finalists | US$1,200,000 |
Quarter-finalists | US$900,000 |
3rd in group stage | US$700,000 |
4th in group stage | US$700,000 |
Below are the current broadcast rights holders of this competition: [54]
Country/Region | Channels |
---|---|
Algeria | EPTV |
ASEAN | beIN Sports |
Morocco | Arryadia |
Benin | ORTB |
Europe | Sportfive |
Portugal | Sport TV |
France | beIN Sports |
Burkina Faso | RTB |
Latin America | ESPN |
Nigeria | |
Ghana | |
MENA | beIN Sports |
South Africa | [56] |
Western Balkans | Sport Klub |
United States | beIN Sports |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
|
East Africa |
Nation | Winners | Runners-up | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Egypt | 17 | 10 | 27 |
Morocco | 7 | 4 | 11 |
Tunisia | 6 | 7 | 13 |
DR Congo | 6 | 6 | 12 |
Algeria | 5 | 2 | 7 |
Cameroon | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Ghana | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Guinea | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Nigeria | 2 | 5 | 7 |
South Africa | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Ivory Coast | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Congo | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Mali | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Uganda | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Sudan | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Togo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Zambia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Zimbabwe | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Federation (Region) | Clubs | Titles |
---|---|---|
UNAF (North Africa) | Al Ahly (11), Zamalek (5), Espérance de Tunis (4), Raja CA (3), Wydad AC (3), ES Sétif (2), JS Kabylie (2), Étoile du Sahel (1), Ismaily (1), MC Alger (1), FAR Rabat (1), Club Africain (1) | 35 |
UNIFFAC (Central Africa) | TP Mazembe (5), Canon Yaoundé (3), CARA Brazzaville (1), Oryx Douala (1), Union Douala (1), Vita Club (1) | 12 |
WAFU (West Africa) | Hafia (3), Asante Kotoko (2), Enyimba (2), ASEC Mimosas (1), Hearts of Oak (1), Stade d'Abidjan (1) | 10 |
COSAFA (Southern Africa) | Orlando Pirates (1), Mamelodi Sundowns (1) | 2 |
CECAFA (East Africa) | 0 |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al Ahly (34) | 327 | 169 | 89 | 69 | 518 | 249 | +269 | 596 |
2 | Espérance de Tunis (28) | 276 | 144 | 76 | 56 | 440 | 229 | +211 | 508 |
3 | ASEC Mimosas (30) | 220 | 110 | 50 | 60 | 325 | 204 | +121 | 380 |
4 | Zamalek (26) | 217 | 105 | 49 | 63 | 324 | 202 | +122 | 364 |
5 | TP Mazembe (27) | 205 | 99 | 58 | 48 | 317 | 185 | +132 | 355 |
6 | Al Hilal (35) | 210 | 81 | 61 | 68 | 265 | 221 | +44 | 304 |
7 | Mamelodi Sundowns (16) | 142 | 76 | 38 | 28 | 246 | 126 | +120 | 266 |
8 | Wydad AC (15) | 150 | 71 | 37 | 42 | 217 | 121 | +96 | 250 |
9 | Raja CA (20) | 148 | 70 | 38 | 40 | 220 | 125 | +95 | 248 |
10 | Asante Kotoko (28) | 145 | 68 | 37 | 40 | 219 | 140 | +79 | 241 |
11 | Étoile du Sahel (15) | 127 | 64 | 29 | 34 | 173 | 107 | +66 | 221 |
12 | JS Kabylie (17) | 122 | 64 | 21 | 37 | 156 | 103 | +53 | 213 |
13 | AS Vita Club (22) | 128 | 55 | 30 | 43 | 185 | 147 | +38 | 195 |
14 | Al Merrikh (26) | 139 | 54 | 33 | 52 | 163 | 165 | −2 | 195 |
15 | Enyimba (12) | 107 | 55 | 19 | 33 | 186 | 101 | +85 | 184 |
16 | Hearts of Oak (19) | 111 | 54 | 21 | 36 | 167 | 138 | +29 | 183 |
17 | Petro de Luanda (21) | 120 | 50 | 33 | 37 | 177 | 144 | +33 | 183 |
18 | Dynamos (18) | 103 | 49 | 18 | 36 | 139 | 113 | +26 | 165 |
19 | Simba (20) | 109 | 47 | 19 | 43 | 147 | 131 | +16 | 160 |
20 | Nkana (15) | 89 | 45 | 23 | 21 | 137 | 85 | +52 | 158 |
21 | ES Sétif (12) | 96 | 41 | 27 | 28 | 148 | 106 | +42 | 150 |
22 | Coton Sport (18) | 106 | 42 | 22 | 42 | 124 | 113 | +11 | 148 |
23 | Ismaily (10) | 75 | 40 | 18 | 17 | 132 | 70 | +62 | 138 |
24 | Canon Yaoundé (13) | 79 | 40 | 17 | 22 | 120 | 87 | +33 | 137 |
25 | Africa Sports (21) | 88 | 40 | 17 | 31 | 128 | 99 | +29 | 137 |
* Number in parentheses show number of participations.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) (in French Confédération Africaine de Football) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan by the national football associations of: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa. following formal discussions between the aforementioned associations at the FIFA Congress held on 7 June 1956 at Avenida Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.
The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organized by CAF.
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The 2014 CAF Super Cup was the 22nd CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The 2015 CAF Champions League was the 51st edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 19th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner qualified for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play in the 2016 CAF Super Cup.
The 2017 CAF Champions League was the 53rd edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 21st edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
The 2018 CAF Super Cup was the 26th CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup was the 16th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
The 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup was the 17th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
The 2019 CAF Super Cup was the 27th CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The 2020–21 CAF Champions League was the 57th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 25th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
The 2021–22 CAF Champions League was the 58th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 26th season under the current CAF Champions League title.
The 2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup was the 19th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
The 2022 CAF Champions League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 CAF Champions League, the 58th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organised by CAF, and the 26th edition under the current CAF Champions League title. It was played at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, in Morocco on 30 May 2022.
The 2022 CAF Super Cup, known the TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup 2022 for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
The 2022–23 CAF Champions League was the 59th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 27th under the current CAF Champions League title.
The 2023 CAF Super Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup 2023 for sponsorship reasons, will be the 32nd CAF Super Cup, an annual football match in Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), between the winners of the previous season's two CAF club competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup.
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