CAF Champions League
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CAF Champions League |
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| Founded | 1964 |
| Region | Africa (CAF) |
| Number of teams | 8 (group stage) |
| Current champions |  Étoile Sahel |
| Most successful club |  El Ahly Al-Zamalek(5 times each) |
| Website | CAF Champions League |
 CAF Champions League 2008 |
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The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the equivalent to the UEFA Champions League. Due to sponsorship reasons, the official name is MTN CAF Champions League, with MTN Champions League also in use.
Contents |
[edit] List of winners (including African Cup of Champions Clubs)
[edit] 5 Wins
[edit] 3 Wins
[edit] 2 Wins
[edit] 1 Win
[edit] Challenges facing African Champions League
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Scheduling, structure, and venues are some of the problems in which CAF faces.
Many feel the competition should schedule their fixtures to similar timelines of the UEFA Champions League. African Champions League usually begins around January and finishes around November. Most (but not all) of the African national domestic leagues begin around July, August, or September and finish around April, May, or June. Because not all national domestic leagues begin around the same time, fixtures to this competition are organized poorly. And most national league administrators want to align the African Champions League to their national domestic leagues. The only way to fix this problem is to co-ordinate all national domestic leagues in Africa with African Champions League.
Many national associations want the competition expanded. The stronger national leagues feel the competition would be more profitable and successful by awarding extra spots to their leagues. This may be profitable but it causes differences and disputes between national associations.
As well, many African football stadiums face pitch problems, proper seating, and security. The development of African football can progress quite nicely if funds are put to build new facilities.
If those challenges are overcome, the African Champions League could be very profitable and one of the most entertaining competitions in the world.
[edit] Structure and qualification
In 1997 the CAF Champions League replaced the previous pan-African competition, the African Cup of Champions Clubs; this had run from 1964-1996 [1].
The competition is open to the winners of all CAF-affiliated national leagues, as well as the holder of the competition from the previous season. From the 2004 competition the runner-up of the league of the 12 highest-ranked countries also entered the tournament creating a 64-team field. This was in response to the merging of the CAF Cup, the secondary pan-African club competition where the league runner-ups would previous play, with the CAF Cup Winners' Cup to create the CAF Confederation Cup. The 12 countries would be ranked on the performance of their clubs in the previous 5 years.
The Champions' League operates as a knockout competition, with a final group stage, with each tie (including the final) played over two legs - home and away. There are 3 knockout stages: the preliminary stage, the first round (32 teams) and the second round (16 teams). The 8 teams knocked out of the second round are entered into the Confederation Cup to play against the final 8 teams in that competition. After the second round, the last 8 teams are split into two groups of 4. The winner and runner-up in these groups are sent to play in a semi-final for the chance of contesting the final.
[edit] Prize money
In the 2006 season $3.5million in prize money was shared between the top eight clubs and their national associations as follows:
| Final position |
Money awarded to club |
Money awarded to national association |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $950,000 + $1 million | $50,000 |
| 2 | $665,000 | $35,000 |
| Semi-finalists * 2 | $427,500 | $22,500 |
| 3rd in group stage * 2 | $261,250 | $13,750 |
| 4th in group stage * 2 | $190,000 | $10,000 |
Notes:
- The reason for * 2 in the table is because there are 2 clubs who are semi-finalist losers, 2 clubs who finish 3rd in group competition, & 2 clubs who finish 4th in group competition.
- In addition the champions receive $1 million dollars, for qualifying for the FIFA Club World Cup.
[edit] CAF Champions League results
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Website of the Confederation of African Football
- CAF Champions League results
- Official MTN CAF Champions League website
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CAF Champions League Seasons
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