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African Football League

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African Football League
Organising bodyCAF
Founded17 July 2021; 3 years ago (2021-07-17)
RegionAfrica
Number of teams8 (from 8 associations) in 2023
24 (from TBD associations) from 2024–25
Related competitionsCAF Champions League
CAF Confederation Cup
Current championsSouth Africa Mamelodi Sundowns
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns
(1 title)
WebsiteOfficial website
2023 African Football League

The African Football League (AFL) is an annual continental men's club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2023.[1][2] It was announced on 28 November 2019 by Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA. It was initially launched as the Africa Super League on 10 August 2022 and was to include twenty-four elite African clubs with a promotion/relegation system,[3] but is scaled down to eight teams for its inaugural campaign.

History

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Gianni Infantino launched the tournament during a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to celebrate the 80th anniversary of TP Mazembe, saying the top 20 clubs in Africa should be chosen and made to participate in an African league. Infantino said this league would generate revenues of $100 million, making it among the top ten leagues in the world, and revealed that he was launching an appeal to raise $1 billion in order to give every African country a football stadium that complies with the specifications of FIFA.

On 17 July 2021, the President of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, confirmed the move to implement the African Super League project as a new tournament ran under the umbrella of CAF, with large financial returns for the sides taking part.[4] The Confederation of African Football launched the competition on 10 August 2022 in Arusha, Tanzania, where more information about the competition was released.

CAF initially wanted to start the competition in August 2023, with reports suggest that 24 clubs would feature in three groups of eight teams, ahead of a knockout stage starting at the Round of 16. These teams would have been taken from the best-ranked African clubs over the past few years, with groups played on a regional basis (North, Central/West, South/East). As part of the club licensing criteria, participating clubs would be required to have a youth academy and a women's team.[5]

On 9 June, the president of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, announced the decision to change the name of the African Super League to the African Football League during an interview with beIN Sport.[6] saying "Our friends in Europe advised us not to use the expression 'Super League' due to the negative associations with the recent failed attempt in European football." On 13 June 2023, during that year's CAF General Assembly in Abidjan, Infantino announced that the competition would be scaled back to 8 teams for the inaugural edition and would now kick off on 20 October 2023,[7] which would be followed by an expanded tournament further down the line. The Africa Football League would also not replace CAF's top club competition, the CAF Champions League.[2] On 29 August 2023, the competition format for the inaugural edition was announced, with the previous format announced to be adopted starting in 2024–25.[1] On 20 October 2023, the president of CAF, Patrice Motsepe, unveiled the African football league trophy.[8]

CAF is planning to bring the competition back on 2025 when scheduling issues for the second edition were encountered in 2024.[9][10]

Format

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The initial details of the format were announced during the launch ceremony in 2022:

  • The competition would have 24 teams divided into three regionalized groups (North, Central/West, South/East), for eight teams per group, and there would be a maximum of three teams per country.
  • The teams would have been from 16 countries, representing approximately 1 billion people.
  • The competition would have 197 matches (with a maximum of 21 matches played by the finalists) and promotion/relegation play-offs.
  • The final would have been played in a single match, with the final designed to become "the Super Bowl of Africa".[citation needed]

The 2023 edition was contested as an eight-team knockout competition, with two-legged quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds. The previously announced format will be used starting with the 2024–25 campaign.[1][2]

Money distribution

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The prize money for the first season has been announced in September 2023 and is as follows:[11]

  • $4,000,000 for the winner
  • $3,000,000 for the runner-up
  • $1,700,000 for each of the semi-finalists
  • $1,000,000 for each of the quarter-finalists

Media coverage

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Broadcasters

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Territory Rights holder Ref
MENA BeIN Sports [12]
Morocco Arryadia [13]
World FIFA+, DAZN [14]

Results

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Key
† Won after extra time
# Won on away goals
* Won on penalty shoot-out
List of African Football League finals
Season Home Score Away Venue Attendance
Nation Club Club Nation
2023  Morocco Wydad AC 2–1 Mamelodi Sundowns  South Africa Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca 45,000
 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 2–0 Wydad AC  Morocco Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria 50,000
Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate

Records and statistics

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Winners by club

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Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runners-up
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1 0 2023 —
Morocco Wydad AC 0 1 — 2023

By nation

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Nation Winners Runners-up Winner Runners-up
 South Africa 1 0 Mamelodi Sundowns (1) —
 Morocco 0 1 — Wydad AC (1)

Performances by region

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Federation (Region) Clubs Winners Clubs Runners-up Titles
COSAFA (Southern Africa) Mamelodi Sundowns (1) — 1
UNAF (North Africa) — Wydad AC (1) 0
WAFU (West Africa) — — 0
UNIFFAC (Central Africa) — — 0
CECAFA (East Africa) — — 0

Controversies

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The project has been subjected to criticism for unrealistic expectations of financial returns. The current continental championships in Africa experience weak infrastructure and high travel costs for fans and teams, which will not be automatically resolved by this new competition.

There are already significant financial disputes between the major teams in North Africa, South Africa and the rest of the continent, which would be exacerbated by the new competition.[15] Further, it is also doubtful whether the competition can arouse the public's attention, despite claims to the contrary, while there are concerns about the impact of the new competition on the current Confederation of African Football Championships such as the CAF Champions League (which prize money of the winners is the at the same level as the Africa Football League winners), the CAF Confederation Cup and national leagues.[16]

In this regard, the Confederation of African Football has also been described as a laboratory of experiments, with the acceptance of the proposal to establish the African Super League contrasting with the rejection of the European Super League by UEFA in April 2021.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "THE INAUGURAL AFRICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (AFL) KICKS OFF IN OCTOBER 2023 AND WILL BE PRECEDED BY OFFICIAL DRAW ON SATURDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2023". CAFonline.com. 29 August 2023. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "New African Football League to start on Oct. 20, says Infantino". Reuters. 13 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. ^ "African Super League: Predicting the first 20 teams | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  4. ^ "African Super League Officially Approved". beIN SPORTS. Archived from the original on 2021-07-18. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  5. ^ "More African Super League talk as Motsepe says it will be FIFA run and privately funded". insideworldfootball. 7 February 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  6. ^ "CAF changes name of its new African Super League". Ahram. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09.
  7. ^ "Africa Super League to Kick Off on October 20 - Soccerhub NG". 2023-07-14. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  8. ^ "CAF President Dr Motsepe launches the African Football League Trophy". CAF. 2023-10-20. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  9. ^ "Caf starts planning for next year's AFL after 2024 bungle". Sunday World. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  10. ^ "AFL prize money set for big increase after Downs' R70m payday?". SNL24. 25 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  11. ^ "CAF announces Prize Money for the Inaugural African Football League ("AFL")". cafonline.com. 2023-09-30. Archived from the original on 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  12. ^ "beIN SPORTS secures African Football League rights in the Middle East & North Africa". beIN SPORTS. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  13. ^ "African Football League: Arryadia spread the competition". Le360 Sport (in French). Archived from the original on 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  14. ^ "What is the African Football League - Africa's New Elite Club Competition?". CAF. 2023-10-29. Archived from the original on 2023-10-29. Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  15. ^ Price, Steve. "FIFA Boss Gianni Infantino's African Super League Plan And The Many Problems It Faces". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-08-12. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  16. ^ "African Super League: What are the unanswered questions? | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-25. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  17. ^ "CAF Announces "Africa Super League"". VOA. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
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