An announcement by Patrice Motsepe which is causing debate on the Old Continent.
The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the project to create a Super-League, a third international competition in Africa, so that "African club football can compete with the best"
.
It was in 2019 that the idea emerged for the first time, on the sidelines of a trip by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This time, things seem to be well underway, and CAF would like to create the Super League from the 2023-2024 season.
On the model, the competition would bring together 24 clubs from 16 different countries, divided into 3 pools of 8 according to geographical criteria.
Each team will play 14 games, then the first 5 of each group and the best 6th will qualify for the final stages, with direct elimination.
In total, 197 matches would be played to conclude with a final on neutral ground, which CAF imagines to look like a Super Bowl.
A NEW TOURNAMENT.
A NEW ERA.
We present to you the very first Super Africa League!
🏆#AfricaSuperLeague pic.twitter.com/zfxfDzxUsH
— TotalEnergies CAFCL - TotalEnergies CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC_fr) August 10, 2022
Each participating club would automatically receive a sum of 2.4 million euros, and the winner would be offered 11.1 million euros, almost 5 times more than the financial gain won by the winning club of the League of African champions.
Everything would be financed by sponsors and broadcasting rights.
If the project is far from receiving the strong criticism of the idea of ​​European Super-League aborted in 24 hours, certain personalities of football are skeptical and are afraid that the competition widens the inequalities between the clubs.
On the contrary, CAF's intention is to promote African football through unprecedented exposure, and thus retain talented players.
