Confederation Of African Football has officially announced the launch of the Africa Super League with major emphasis on lifting club competitions in the continent to astonishing heights.
CAF operates two club competitions for football clubs in the continent. There is the CAF Champions League and the CAF consideration cup. The Africa Super League is a new addition to the array of club competitions in the continent.
The nomenclature of the CAF Africa Super League will somewhat be different from the CAF Champions League and the Confederation cup. According to the planners, the competition will be made of 24 clubs selected from 16 countries across Africa.
A total of 197 matches will be played from August 24 to May 23 next year. The prize money for the competition has been fixed at £100m and the winner of the competition will go home with £11.6m.
The competition is said to be the brainchild of the current President of African Football, Patrice Motsepe as a follow-up to a suggestion put forward by FIFA President Gianno Infantino in 2020. Infantino suggested a competition of similar fashion in Europe but was met with a barrage of criticisms. The football concept was subsequently abandoned after it was berated for its elitist approach to the game where only privileged big-money clubs will be competing only.
To this effect, Motsepe is expected to rename the competition to African Football League to avoid a re-enactment of the ghost of the defunct European Super League.
Trying to sell the idea to football stakeholders across the continent, Mosepe has maintained that the potential of the competition to generate funds, raise revenue, and bring African clubs to par with their European counterparts is enormous.
According to him, the competition will attract sponsorships that will yield revenues unheard of for clubs on the continent. The African Champions League winner earns a paltry £2.5m, but the Africa Super League winner will earn over £11m.
Motsepe has also claimed that the Africa Super League will allow African clubs to contest with their European counterparts by offering financial leverage to clubs to pay their players standard and competitive wages. This he claimed will reduce the massive influx of African stars into the shores of Europe for better wages.
Motsepe also stated that each African Football Association will be paid £1m each year from the revenues generated from the competition.
Players’ Association Of South Africa Kicks
The players association of South Africa have kicked against the Africa Super League. They are contending that the idea may sink South African Football and the entire African football to a point of no recovery. Other critics have asserted that the idea is a blind imitation of the doomed European Super League.
Impact of Africa Super League On African Football
It is yet unclear how the newly-launched Africa Super League will affect African football. However, its impact on other club competitions such as the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup cannot be undermined. Motsepe have stated that both competitions will continue but will be reverted to a two-legged knockout, and also funds from the Super League will be plowed back into those competitions.
The Africa Super League will be made of 24 teams from 16 countries and they will be divided into 3 groups of 8 teams each. Then majority of the team will be moved to American-style play-off system.
