After nearly a year of waiting, CAF has officially announced the final details of their new competition, the African Football League.
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Late last year, Patrice Motsepe announced that African football's governing body was looking to raise funds in an effort to uplift the continent's professional sides from a fiscal perspective.
He, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino sat beside him, announced that a Super League would be introduced in 2023/24 in order to achieve this and while there have been largely no new developments since his utterances in Tanzania, the organization has now laid out how the tournament will be constituted while also confirming its participants with Mamelodi Sundowns set to represent South Africa in the eight-team competition.
An official statement from CAF read: "Africa's highest-ranked football clubs will compete in the exciting new 'Super' competition, the Inaugural African Football League (AFL) which is designed to showcase the best of African club football and provide football fans in Africa and around the world, the opportunity to see and enjoy the very best of the beautiful game on the African Continent.
"The AFL is a partnership between CAF and FIFA. The Inaugural edition of the AFL will feature eight of Africa's most famous and successful teams from the three African Regional Blocks which are: the North Region, the Central-West Region and the South-East Region.
"Egyptian giants Al Ahly Football Club, Tunisia's Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Wydad Athletic Club from Morocco are the football clubs from the North Region.
"The clubs from the Central-West Region are: Nigeria's Enyimba Football Club and the DRC's Tout Puissant Mazembe.
"Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club from South Africa, Angola's Atletico Petroleos de Luanda and Tanzania's Simba Sports Club are the football clubs from the South-East Region.
"The draw for the Inaugural AFL competition will be held in Cairo, Egypt, on 2 September 2023, at 19H00, Cairo Time and will be streamed live on the AFL website and televised by CAF's broadcast partners.
"The fixtures of the Inaugural AFL competition are structured on a home and away basis. The competition starts with knock-out quarter-finals and will be followed by the semi-finals and the final; all of which are played over two legs.
"This historic Inaugural edition of the AFL will take place over four weeks, kicking off with the Opening Ceremony and the first match on 20 October 2023 in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.
"The semi-finals will take place between 29 October and 1 November.
"The final matches which will determine the winner of the Inaugural AFL competition will take place on 5 and 11 November 2023.
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"The Inaugural AFL is a precursor to the fully-fledged AFL competition which will feature the 24 highest ranked football clubs on the African Continent and will commence during the 2024/2025 football season."
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